The Fragments of Remnant
by DragonDavester
Summary: When everything in your world has been shattered around you, how do you go about picking up the pieces and trying to make sense of what to do next? Sequel to my first RWBY fic, Voices in Dust. Make sure to read that before this one to avoid any confusion or missing details.
1. Chapter 1

**And I am finally back! Sorry for how large the gap has been since the first story ended, but I wanted to be sure that I had an outline done far enough for the story that even if I hit a case of writer's block down the road I have plenty of existing material to pull from for the full chapters themselves.**

 **That said, I hope everyone is excited for both this sequel, as well as the next season of RWBY in a couple of months. I feel like this sort of thing will go a long way towards filling the gap until then, while also managing to fill in the gaps between episodes when the show itself does start up again. Until next time however, enjoy my continuation to my own AU of RWBY. Make sure to leave any thoughts or questions in reviews following the chapter so that I can either clear up any concerns or just enjoy the thrill I give you guys from writing again.**

* * *

Frost took a deep breath of the cool winter air as he and Neo trudged along through the empty forest around them. It had been close to a week since Qrow had left from the hospital that Neo and Frost had been recovering at, with the two of them deciding within a few days that they needed to make a move of their own and start to find out about what else transpired as well as find out how Frost's friends and classmates were doing. Without many clues or indications of many students exact whereabouts, they turned to the closest place Frost could think of- Patch.

The trip for the two of them had been mostly quiet, with only the odd run-in with a few smaller packs of Grimm, the two of them taking extra precaution to watch out for larger groups of Grimm given that the two of them alone couldn't handle some of the more unique or powerful Grimm that would likely be drawn to the city proper where those, like Glynda Goodwitch, were presently trying to both keep Grimm infestation under a certain level as well as monitoring the current situation with the Dragon frozen atop the ruined Beacon Tower. The citizens themselves were all safely away from its boundaries, with the exception of those that had been killed in the chaos of the attack.

Frost clenched one fist tightly within his new armored gauntlets, a look of grim determination on his face as he vowed to not let something like that happen again. As much as it was a promise very similar to the one he had made as a child in regards to his home village, he now had the skills necessary to actually do something about the Grimm attacks as well as anything that Cinder or the White Fang may cause. Neo gave him a sideways glance as she caught sight of his fist clenching, her hand not currently occupied with carrying her parasol on her shoulder raising to rest lightly on his arm. He looked over and softened his expression as a show of thanks before they continued on, Neo being the first to break the silence around them.

"You know, even after everything we talked about back at the hospital after Qrow left you never actually explained why we were coming out here in particular."

Frost paused as he turned to face Neo with confusion, a question already coming to his lips the moment after she spoke. "Wait, really?" His look of confusion was only increased when Neo turned to face him completely with a small nod. "Huh, guess I should probably backtrack bit then for clarity's sake."

Neo smiled a cheeky smile as Frost paused to gather his thoughts, "That made help, considering we've been wandering these woods for a few hours already."

Frost shook his head with a small smile as he regarded Neo's expression, "You know I could just say no and keep leading us off to who knows where as far as you know. Wouldn't be that hard considering how often either of us has actually been outside Vale." Frost looked up towards the skies, his hand on his chin. "It's been…what? Over ten years?"

Neo's expression became more somber at that statement, her face turning towards the ground with a look of sadness. "Ever since the village was attacked…I know."

Frost immediately picked up on the sadness in her voice, his face twisting in shock before he delivered a quick smack to his forehead with one hand before reaching for Neo's shoulder with the other. "Hey, that was a bad call on my part; I never should have brought that up." Neo looked up to see the serious expression back on his face. "I should have remembered how much you hate when that topic comes up; after all, everyone recovers from something like that at a different pace." His expression returned to normal as he gave her shoulder a quick pat of reassurance. "I promised since we were kids that I wouldn't let anything hurt you like that again, and I intend to keep that promise. As for where we're headed," Frost said as he turned to start walking, Neo quickly moving to catch up and keep up with his pace. "We're headed to Ruby and Yang's home. If we're lucky Qrow might still be there checking in on them, otherwise we can at least ask about where everyone else is if they aren't staying here with the two of them."

Neo paused for another moment as Frost finished explaining their reasoning for coming out this way. "You said before that Yang is the blonde one of the group, right? The one I attacked on the train?"

Frost noticed the look of hesitation on Neo's face immediately. "Hey, I already told you- Ruby and her team all know about the situation with Torchwick…though I guess the whole story about the drug forcing you to do stuff you didn't want wasn't entirely true, huh?"

"Not really, but it's still reassuring to know that they don't think poorly of me despite what I was involved in."

Frost had a moment of realization on his face as he snapped his fingers in remembrance. "That's right, you wouldn't know about that!"

"Know about what?"

"That Blake used to be a member of the White Fang- from before Cinder recruited them for her efforts with Vale. They already got past that as a group, and I'm pretty sure that they all got past Yang's "attack" on Mercury back during the tournament. You'll be fine. Yang might give you a ribbing for it for a while, but that's just her way of paying it off as okay. Besides, I think it's a little late for cold feet." Frost finished with a smirk as Neo frowned at him.

"Just because you're doing a good job of reassuring me does not mean you're allowed to make your disgusting puns, Cobalt."

Frost feigned ignorance as he turned around with both arms crossed behind his head. "I was just commenting on the situation, I never said anything about the weather, did I?"

"Oh, shush." Neo snapped while struggling and failing to hold back a smile from her face.

Frost silently applauded himself for not wasting a perfectly situation for a joke, but mostly for being able to reassure Neo. She had done enough of that for him after everything surrounding her voice, so it only felt right that he return the favour in what was likely still a dark patch for Neo to be in. The two's momentarily respite was cut short however as they heard a howling sound coming from nearby, before immediately being followed by the sound of multiple bodies moving quickly across the snow-dusted ground around them. After moving back-to-back with their weapons drawn, the two braced themselves as pack of half-a-dozen Beowolves bounds from out of the foliage around them. How they hadn't noticed the pack earlier was strange, however that mattered little as they had to deal with the beasts at this point regardless.

Two of the Grimm pounced almost immediately, both of them with claws raised with the intent of landing the fatal blow quickly as such Grimm were prone to do, only for the figures of Neo and Frost to shatter upon impact, the Grimm now looking around in confusion for the two of them. A moment later their curiosity was answered as a body fell from a nearby tree on top of on the Grimm that hadn't yet attacked with a sickening crunch before its body dissipated into black mist. Frost shook out the arm that had planted itself in the ground before quickly ducking to avoid the swipe of another beast, his other arm moving to place his open palm against the Beowulf's chest with his arm glowing with the telltale mark of his Semblance, a bolt of energy firing through the monsters back a moment later causing it to dissipate like its brethren a moment earlier.

Another Grimm would have been upon him a moment later, were it not for the sudden emergence of a sharp blade through its chest, its head turning to face the culprit as Neo smirked lightly before twisting her body- her heeled boot colliding with its face as it too faded into mist. The remaining Grimm quickly retreated to the centre of the clearing with its two compatriots, their pack number quickly being reduced by what they had originally considered to be easy prey given how clueless they had been to the monster's approach. The three all snarled a moment later before lunging as one group towards the two of them.

Frost turned to face Neo as the Beowolves approached; a smirk on his face as he asked the question on the front of his mind. "Up for a little Guilty Spark, for old times' sake?"

Neo sighed in defeat as she gave Frost a slight nod accompanied by a small glare. Frost cracked his knuckles in anticipation while quickly shutting his eye as Neo teleported away in a bright flash of light, momentarily blinding the Grimm in the commotion. Even as they shook their heads to clear the spots from their sight, it was too late as Frost bore down on them with both arms outstretched and crackling with trace amounts of electricity. Before they could move in a way to defend themselves, it was too late as Frost placed a hand each on the sides of two of the beasts, the electricity he had quickly charged to his arms immediately flowing to the nearest object as the current vaporized the two wolves in an instant. He would have been also had to deal with the third Beowolf; however that was unnecessary- as planned- when Neo's blade pierced through the bony mask on the Grimm's face with a silent ring of metal on metal, its body vanishing a moment later. The two of them stretched their limbs briefly from the short workout before returning to their earlier route after a quick glance at the map on Frost's scroll.

* * *

Neo frowned from ahead while Frost carried a knowing smirk on his face.

"What's got you so sour now?" Frost stated matter-of-factly from the back. After a moment of silence from Neo, Frost poked further. "Huh? I didn't catch that."

Neo whirled with an irritated look on her face even as he kept walking. "You know exactly why I'm suddenly acting "sour", as you put it. You know how much I hate that name."

"Hey, we had to find some way to remember some of our more technical tricks back when we were doing some of our heists for Torchwick."

"Did it really have to sound so terrible though?"

"As I recall, it helped us to know when we needed to us it in a certain situation without telegraphing to anyone else. By the way, nice use of the hidden blade back there, considering your aversion to using it back when we did come up with that trick and who we had to use it on a lot of the time."

Neo blushed briefly at the out of the blue praise. "T-thanks, I guess. I just figured this time around since it was Grimm, it might work a bit better to daze or incapacitate them since their body structure is more durable than some of the opponents we've faced." Neo's expression quickly shifted to shock at the realization of what Frost had just done. "Hey! Don't do that when I'm trying to be upset at you!"

Frost turned to give her a sideways smirk as he reached out to push aside some foliage blocking their path. "It worked for improving your mood, didn't it? Besides, looks like while we were conversing we finally arrived."

Neo quickly moved to catch up to Frost's position before looking out through the gap in the foliage Frost had made. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight before her. "It looks so…plain. How could anyone possibly live out here with the constant threat of Grimm around them in these woods?"

Frost shrugged his shoulders as the two of them made their way towards the wooden door of the cabin in front of them, smoke gently wafting from the chimney on one side of the building. "Maybe it's some sort of weird ward put up by Huntsman, maybe they've killed enough that came too close that they keep their distance. Either way, something tells me they aren't usually out in such huge numbers as they have been lately. That Dragon back in Beacon is probably working them up a bunch and causing those not flocking to the city to just act more aggressive than usual."

"Grimm acting more aggressive than usual? Something about that statement doesn't sound right." Neo said as she reached forward to knock lightly on the door. A moment later an older blond-haired man answered the door with a brief look of eagerness on his face, only for it to disappear the moment he saw who was at the door. "Excuse me sir, is this the Rose-Xiao Long residence?"

The blond-haired man regarded the two of them with a raised eyebrow for a moment before opening his mouth to respond. "It is, why do you ask?"

Frost stepped forward as he raised a hand to wave in greeting. "We're friends of Ruby and Yang from Beacon. We wanted to see how the two of them are doing after everything that happened back at the campus and the city."

The man looked past the two of them for a moment before motioning for the two to enter. "You…might want to come inside to hear about it. The Grimm have been more active lately, and after how far you've come I imagine you could probably use the rest. Might want to brace yourselves though, you might not like what you hear."

Frost and Neo gave each other uneasy looks before moving in past the older man, who stayed at the open door for a moment as he looked outside for a moment longer, a whisper leaving his mouth that only he could hear.

"Where are you, Ruby?"


	2. Chapter 2

**First things first.**

 **I am SO SORRY about how long this took to publish. Taking a little over two weeks to write another chunk of exposition isn't even remotely fair to those of you reading this. And it's because of that I'm holding myself to a new standard going forward. I will make a solemn promise that I won't let it go any longer than 2 weeks- at the VERY MOST- before giving this story an update. To be honest, if the only thing stopping me from writing more often is new video games coming out when I'm not busy with work, then I probably need to rethink my priorities somewhat. Doesn't stop new releases like God Eater, Pokemon, DLC for games I play, Dragon Age, etc. from distracting me unfortunately. I'll do my best to minimize the distraction it causes though.**

 **Anyways, onto this chapter. Unfortunately it is just more exposition, which a good majority for this segment of the story will be. Gotta give reasoning and buildup to the rest of the fic after all. That aside, the ending to this chapter was...a little difficult for me to finish, for reasons that many will probably get once they read through. I hate that it happened, but everything does for a reason.**

 **Leave a follow if you want to see where this story goes, and/or a review if you feel there's anything I could work on or questions you may have. I can't promise I'll answer every single one in case it causes spoilers, but either way, enjoy!**

* * *

Frost and Neo silently waited inside what appeared to be the kitchen/dining area of the house while waiting for the man that had let them in. Moments later, the man entered the room with a slightly downtrodden look on his face, which did not go unnoticed by the pair. Neo gave Frost an inquisitive look with the silent question of if he knew what that was about, to which he shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head with equal amounts of confusion. Neo chose to speak up as the man walked over to the counter to pull what looked like the makings of some tea off of a shelf before starting to prepare a kettle on the stovetop.

"Excuse me, sir?" Neo started with a gentle tone, so as not to sound imposing. "Is something the matter? It almost seemed like you were expecting someone when you answered the door earlier."

"Hmm?" The blonde man answered as he turned to address Neo while finishing setting the kettle in place to heat the water inside. "Oh, sorry. I almost forgot you two were there for a moment. If I space out like that again just let me know." He walked over towards the kitchen table as he motioned for the other two to also take a seat. He sat with his hands clasped in front of him for a few moments after they were all seated as though thinking of the words to say. "Now as for why I seemed the way I did at the door…there's something I need to ask the two of you first."

The other two gave each other another look of confusion before turning back to the man, Frost being the one to speak up this time. "Absolutely, that's only fair. You probably don't know who we are, so we understand the hesitation to open up to complete strangers."

The man gave them a silent nod of thanks before proceeding. "My name is Taiyang Xiao-Long, and I am Ruby and Yang's father. What I need to know…is who exactly the two of you are to my daughters. Are you classmates? Friends? Why should I tell you about what is probably going to be one of the most tragic times in their lives when that is an invasion of their privacy?"

Neo and Frost both flinched somewhat at the sharpness to which Taiyang delivered his questions. It was clear that he cared deeply about his daughters, but this went beyond a normal father-daughter relationship and this was good, but now this left Neo and Frost with an awkward explanation to give.

"You may want to brace yourself, sir. This could take some explaining." Frost stated simply as Taiyang leaned forward to clasp his hands in front of him while resting his elbows on the tabletop.

"I have time."

* * *

Taiyang stared plainly at the two children in front of him before reconsidering his description of them as children. These two had clearly seen things ahead of their time, as was evidenced by the hardened looks they carried. These two had not lived the best of lives, Taiyang had seen that many times before in his travels as a Huntsman in his earlier years. That, and the stories they had told him of how they had gotten wrapped up in the criminal underground of Vale and sequentially the assaults on both Vale and Beacon. He took a deep breath as he leaned back in his chair, both arms now crossed in front of him.

"So what you're telling me is that you," Taiyang stated as he gestured towards Neo, "used to work with one of the most dangerous men in Vale, the women responsible for the collapse of Beacon, as well as assault and nearly kill one of my daughters; and the reason you did not blow the whistle on them sooner is because of your concern for your friend here," Taiyang said as he turned his attention to Frost, "who, while he also worked for those same people, defected and turned in knowledge to the authorities of Vale and met my daughters and her team, but also did not report those same criminals when he discovered they were on Beacon's campus due to his worry for you?"

Neo and Frost gave each other a worried look as Taiyang stared at the two of them plainly. For a few moments they worried that Taiyang would throw them out of the house without getting a chance to see Yang or Ruby, mostly for Frost's peace of mind. Their worries were for naught however as Taiyang gave a hearty chuckle, much to their confusion, before relaxing a bit into his seat.

"Do you have any idea how much that sounds like one of those goddamn TV dramas? You couldn't write material that wild!" The man said as he got up to retrieve the kettle that had just started to whistle on the stove-top while also grabbing a few mugs and some tea bags for the three of them. "That aside, it's obvious that the two of you regret what happened, and also had no way of knowing what would transpire. With that, I'll admit that I'm pleasantly surprised that someone came by to see how Ruby and Yang are doing." Taiyang gained a look of sadness as he placed the tea bag in his mug of water for a few moments to let the flavour sink in. "It's been…quiet, since they got back. The only person who came by to check on them was their uncle, a drunk of a man named Qrow."

"We've met him before." Frost stated as a brief interruption. "He actually spoke to us briefly on the outskirts of Vale where they had some emergency facilities setup for those recovering from the assault before being moved elsewhere. He gave us the directions to this place, saying it would be a good idea to stop by before moving on to other things."

Taiyang gave another brief chuckle. "That sounds just like the old fool. To be honest, had you gotten here a day or two earlier, you might have gotten another chance to speak to him, but he was gone almost as soon as he showed up to check on the girls before going back to searching for Ozpin."

"Ozpin's missing?" Frost stated with a look of shock on his face as his palm slapped onto the table's surface in alarm. "How? Why?"

"That's just it, no one knows. Not even the other professors know why. When they searched the rubble of the tower, they couldn't find any sign of his body, even with Glynda lifting piles of rubble away with her Semblance while making sure nothing shifted much in the process. He was just…gone. So Qrow decided that he needed to both follow up on whatever they normally do, while hunting around to see if he could catch Ozpin's trail anywhere. So far, nothing."

"That's…not good." Frost bluntly spoke.

"That's the same thought on everyone else's mind that knows. But don't let word of that, or of your connection to those involved in Vale's and Beacon's collapse, get around too much. Not everyone would respond kindly towards that sort of knowledge." Taiyang stated before returning to his previous story. "Anyways, Ruby both seemed to be healthy after taking a couple of days to rest after what happened…but then it got worse. Yang's not the same after something happened involving her partner Blake, but she won't say more about it while she rests in her room. I've barely seen her speak whenever I bring her some food to eat. It's like she's given up, and I'm terrified at that thought because…that same thing happened to me when I was younger. Has Yang ever told you much about her mother?"

"Not at all, no." Frost replied with a shake of his head and a look of confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"Haven't you ever wondered why Ruby and Yang have different last names despite having the same father?"

"They have different mothers, seems pretty self-explanatory."

"Touché." Taiyang returned with a nod of his head. "But they never said anything about their mothers or anything that happened to them, correct?" With his answer being a duo of shaking heads, Taiyang took a deep breath as he braced himself. "It all started a number of years ago, shortly after Yang was born…"

* * *

"So neither of them has a mother, anymore?" Neo asked softly after they sat silently for a few moments, letting Frost and Neo process the knowledge they now had.

"Technically, Yang's mother is still out there somewhere. Why she left, I doubt I'll ever find out, let alone want to know after how long she left her own daughter alone. I just wish that they hadn't lost Summer so soon after as well. It broke me, and I couldn't be there like a father should when they go through something like that. Thankfully Qrow was still around to smack me into shape as well as protect them when I couldn't. I will never forget how much he's done for our family. I just wish he would tell me more so I could help-" Neo and Taiyang were jolted out of their conversation by the sharp sound of a fist meeting wood as Frost's fist slammed down into the surface of the table. Taiyang gave Frost a look of shock and confusion, while Neo's gaze turned into a glare as she stared at Frost's downturned head.

"Frost! What are you doing?" Neo snapped at her friend. "We're trying to get answers and help, and here you are damaging people's property. What is wrong with you?!"

Frost was silent for a moment, before responding with a slight turning of his head towards the only hallway in the house that went towards the bedrooms. "My problem…is that while everything is going to shit, Yang- someone I've come to know as headstrong and a bit of a daredevil- is moping in her room while her teammates and sister are scattered to the winds without anyone keeping in touch with each other. Weiss has been pulled off to Atlas by her father; Blake has left for who knows where to run from her past; and Ruby's gone off to find answers. Is that all she's going to do until someone comes back to her? Sit and wallow in her misery when she thinks she's lost?" Neo started getting up to reprimand Frost, but after a silent exchange with Taiyang with him signaling her to stay seated with a small smile, she returned to her original position. "Back when I first got assigned with them after being questioned by Ozpin and Ironwood, they all in their own way tried to help me- to get through the wall I had put up to keep anyone out because I thought I didn't deserve the help after what I'd been a part of. If she's going to act the same now as I did then, then it's about time I returned the favour and snapped her out of this stupid funk she's put herself in." As Frost finished, he lifted his face with a determined expression to see a look of approval on Taiyang's face as well as a look of awe on Neo's face as she held a hand up to her mouth in shock. Frost blushed lightly as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Too much?"

Taiyang was the first to respond, his response being a hearty laugh as he clutched his side for a moment with a look of mirth on his face, a change he welcomed greatly after how the last few days had gone. "Kid, I don't know about you, but if you've got any of that spunk to spare, you mind giving it back to my daughter? I think I've got a good idea where her spark went after everything that happened. You went and snatched it when she wasn't paying attention." His expression became somewhat more serious after getting a few remaining chuckles out as he continued. "But I should warn you, while I appreciate the fire you have to get Yang back on her feet, you also should be careful about what you say. She's in a difficult place, and I imagine the two of you are somewhat familiar with that. Just…be gentle with some of your word choice, even if you have to be blunt about some things."

Neo and Frost gave each a brief look before nodding at each other before turning back to face Taiyang as they got up from the table. Frost gave his regular smirk while Neo smiled lightly.

"We promise, sir. We'll do our best to bring Yang back, and I'll do my best to keep this one," Neo stated with a thumb gestured towards Frost, "under control."

Taiyang laughed once more at the sharp shift in expression on Frost's face when he whirled to stare at Neo with a bewildered expression. "That's good. But before you go and do that I do have one last request." After a serious nod from the two of them, Taiyang continued. "The connection you two have as friends from what you've had to go through…don't lose that. I've seen people separate over smaller things, but if the two of you can still stay this close even after so much then your relationship should be able to withstand anything. Never forget that you have each other to back you up, and that there is always someone there when you need them. There was a time that I forgot that, but I don't think you two will likely ever have that same dilemma."

"We will…and thank you." Frost said with a gentle smile, something he did not do often. "Wish us luck!"

And with that, Frost and Neo started walking down the hallway towards where Taiyang pointed out Yang's room. The blonde man chuckled briefly as he downed the rest of his tea before getting up to gather the mugs and tea bags to clean up.

"Good luck…to all three of you. This will likely be one of the hardest conversations the three of you will have in your young lives." Taiyang watched out the window as a lone red leaf fell from a nearby tree to fall gently into the snow outside. "I didn't tell them everything that Yang and Ruby said happened after all. I just hope the boy can handle the news better than they did. The girl obviously never got to know anyone at Beacon, but him? He was there in one of his darkest times and had many people he came to call friends around to help him when he needed it. I hope it doesn't break him too much when he finds out one of them…is gone."


	3. Chapter 3

**So this guy is out** _ **just**_ **a little bit faster than previous chapters. Yay for not letting procrastination get to me!**

 **Anyways, apologies in advance for some segments of this chapter. There are a couple points I'm not completely proud of, and there's a strong likelihood part of this chapter will feel slightly OoC.**

 **As usual leave any reviews for your thoughts/advice after reading, and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Yang gave a deep sigh as she continued to gaze out the window from her bedroom. This was the way things had consistently been ever since she had been brought to Patch when it had be determined she would survive her encounter with the red-haired man with the katana. Regardless of how much her father or Ruby had protested, she just felt no drive to try and reach any of their friends from Beacon. What help would she even be, in her current state? She was dead weight; and if even her own partner could see that then what was the point in even offering any assistance? _I'm a complete waste, they're better off without me._ Yang thought darkly to herself as she narrowed her eyes for a moment before continuing to just stare out the window.

Yang would continue to think along these lines, not noticing when there was a sharp knocking on the door to the house when Frost and Neo arrived and eventually moved to the kitchen to speak with Taiyang. So engrossed in her own thoughts as she was, it was only with the sharp crack of knuckles on her own door that Yang was jarred into shock for a brief moment, her eyes whirling to face her door as a voice came from beyond. One that she wasn't in the least expecting to hear from given what she had just been saying to herself.

"Yang? Can we come in? We came to see how you were doing?" The telltale voice of Frost carried through the door. But who was this "we" he was referring to? Had Ruby gone off to find someone and happened to find him of all people closest to their home? Or was it someone else entirely?

Her curiosity peaked, Yang responded to the request after a few moments deliberation. "Sure, come on in." She winced even as the words came out of her mouth. She had tried to make that sound more like her usual self from when they were at Beacon, but she could instantly tell that it fell short. Hopefully whoever was on the other side didn't pick up on it.

As the door opened, she was unsurprised to see Frost there, as it WAS his voice she had heard from the other side. However, it was the person that was with him that caused her eyes to bug out in shock. For standing across from her bed, in her own bedroom, was none other than Neopolitan- the girl who had nearly killed her aboard the train beneath Mountain Glenn had it not been for the timely intervention of her own mother. Clearly, Neo had noticed Yang's sudden shift in expression upon noticing her, as she raised a hand and gave a nervous wave with an awkward smile to match. Were it not for the clearly different wardrobe and hair, Yang would have thought she was looking at her sister for a moment before being snapped out of her thoughts once again by Frost's voice.

"So…how have you been?" Frost asked blandly after spending a few moments scratching the back of his head, probably deliberating on what to open with.

Yang rolled her eyes for a moment at the dumb question before trying to put on a half-smile for her visitors. "Oh, I'm doing alright. Just sitting here at home recovering from having my arm sliced off while protecting my _partner_." Yang tried, but she couldn't help but hiss at the last word as she turned her head to look at the bandaged stump where her arm used to be.

"Yeah…I heard about that. But listen." Frost's expression shifted to something more serious as he regained his composure before continuing to speak. "You need to get out of this funk, Yang. You're not the only one that got caught up in everything out there. Ruby, Weiss, Blake-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME!"

Frost and Neo both reeled back in shock at the outburst from Yang, before regaining themselves even as Yang seethed through clenched teeth. Neo turned to look up at Frost with a pitying expression, to which Frost shook his head lightly before speaking up once more.

"Look Yang, I know you don't like what happened. But everyone has their reasons for the things they do. I'm sure she-"

"Sure that she, what?!" Yang interrupted once more with a barely controlled yell. "That she had some grand purpose for ditching her entire team after watching Beacon fall to Cinder and the White Fang?! The same group that she ran from once before to come to Beacon in the first place?" Yang's expression turned cold as she leveled a glare at the two in her room. "If all you two came here for is to start a pity party where we all cry out our feelings and make up then you'll be disappointed."

Yang turned her face to the window once again as she leveled a look of cold, uncaring indifference outside. "Now, get out."

* * *

Neo gave a brief sigh as she put one hand on Frost's jacket sleeve to lead him out, their presence clearly not welcome at this point in time. However, she turned back in confusion when her pull was met with resistance. When she looked back she saw Frost, his face unreadable as he simply looked at the broken girl in the room with them. She opened her mouth to berate him, when it was cut off by his own voice speaking up.

"So that's it, huh?" It was barely a whisper, but Neo heard it, and so did Yang judging by the way her head turned somewhat at the words spoken. His voice then got somewhat louder as he continued to speak. "Yang Xiao Long. The blonde brawler from Beacon that never let anything get her down, gives up at the first sign of defeat. Never thought I'd see the day." His voice is cold and emotionless as his head is turned in a way that neither Neo nor Yang can see his eyes.

Neo reaches out to pull harder on Frost's sleeve, worried now for what had just been started as she sees Yang's expression twist with unbridled rage and frustration at his words. Whether or not he had intended to work her up like this, she was not happy. They had to leave, NOW.

"How dare you…" Yang hissed out as Frost turned his expressionless gaze to meet hers. "How dare you say that to me…when everyone I know has abandoned me…my mother…my sister…my partner…they all left without a word…" Her expression does not change even as the tears begin to fall unhindered down her face.

Neo whirls with a look of scorn on her face to reprimand Frost, but is stopped short when she sees his face. The expression is still the cold, emotionless mask she has seen him wear numerous times as they grew up, but tears are also falling from his own eyes as he continues to watch Yang fall apart in front of them. She lets her hand fall from his sleeve in shock as she looks between the two of them, unable to speak for a moment even as the others silently weep in front of her. After a moment of thought she decides that now is as good a time as any as she turns to face Yang fully. Yang notices this, and turns her gaze to weakly face Neo, her eyes still leaking tears every few seconds.

"Yang…I'm sorry." Neo spoke simply, even as the blonde gaped in surprise, unable to respond in kind. "I never had the chance to say this earlier, with everything going on and us being on opposite sides of the battle for months. What happened on the train…I never meant for it to go that far." Neo tensed her shoulders with fear and disdain as memories of the incident flooded her mind. Moments later however she felt a warm presence touch her shoulder as Frost reached over a hand to gently place on her shoulder for encouragement as his other arm reached up to rub the tears from his face. Neo smiled in thanks as she took a deep breath before continuing. "All I intended was just to knock you out and teleport you safely off the train to somewhere else in Vale right before the crash. But a part of me enjoyed the rush of battle so much that it wanted to go all the way and deliver the killing blow. It took that dark-haired woman showing up to snap me out of it and leave before I could make any more mistakes."

The room was silent for a few moments after Neo finished speaking. The only sounds they could hear were the sounds of the wind and snow outside, as well as the occasional tapping from tree branches on the window. Yang turned to look out the window as she raised her arm to wipe the tears from her own eyes with a sad expression on her face.

"You know…that was a whole lot more pleasant of a third encounter with you than I anticipated." Yang said with a hollow laugh. "Kinda figured you'd just show up and gut me next time around after everything that happened. Almost welcomed it to. But then I'd miss my chance to eventually go out and find Blake before knocking some sense into that kitty skull of hers again." Frost and Neo both heaved a sigh of relief at the small joke. Her expression became more serious as she turned to face the others once more. "That doesn't change the fact that I don't appreciate you bringing it up in the first place."

"Yeah, didn't really think that one through a whole lot." Frost stated as Neo punched him in the arm, his face twisting in pain for a moment before he continued, rubbing his now bruised arm with his free hand. "But I do promise you this- while we're out finding answers of our own, if we see Blake we'll give her a good punch for you and then tie her to a chair before giving you a call so you two can catch up. How's that sound."

Yang gave Frost a look of bewilderment before shaking her head as she laughed again, her arm reaching over to her bedside table to grab her Scroll. "I hope you've got something planned for making sure she can't use her Semblance to get out of their if you do manage to get the drop on her. Can't imagine she'd come willingly."

"Meh. Personally I'm hoping that once she sees us, if we can get her talking we'll be set then. She cares about the three of you, you know that. Look at how worried she was about your reactions when you found out she was part of the White Fang. I'm willing to be that whatever she's off doing it's to protect you…in some dumb "I'm not going to let you help and risk yourselves" kind of way." Frost finished with a shrug of her shoulders. "I bet if we can get Ruby, Weiss, and Team JNPR in on it we'd find her in no time. Heck, even if Weiss is stuck in Atlas; with Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and Nora off towards Haven, and Pyrrha out in Mistral we've got all of Remnant covered." Frost missed when Yang's face twisted in shock and confusion at his words while Neo did not, now looking very concerned as Frost continued to ramble off unawares. "…just need a few tons of catnip, lots of balls of yarn, maybe some fish every once in a while as a trail almost. Damn, that's gonna be expensive…"

Yang shook her head with surprise as she interrupted Frost's ramblings. "Dude, the cat jokes are fine and all, but Pyrrha? What happened to you out there that made you into such an insensitive prick?"

Frost turned with a look of confusion at Yang's statement. "Pyrrha jokes? The heck are you talking about, Yang? I just assumed since the others went with Ruby it was because Pyrrha wanted to check on her family in Mistral and told the others to go ahead of her. Weird choice if you ask me, though considering how much longer that'll take for her unless she has some method of transport we don't know about."

"Dude, you've got to be joking right now. Off in Mistral? I know I've been in a funk but at least I'm not making stuff up to hide the truth when it's right in front of me."

"Hiding the truth? Joking?" Frost gave Yang a serious look as he continued, just as perplexed as he first was when the conversation took this turn.

"Frost…Pyrrha was killed by Cinder, remember?"

* * *

He couldn't believe it. Pyrrha Nikos? The Invincible Girl? Dead? By Cinder? She was the most talented person he had ever seen fight short of the teachers at Beacon themselves. To hear the words "Pyrrha" and "dead" in the same sentence didn't make any sense. And to Cinder? That was even stranger. Realistically speaking she did have those weird flames and her bow, but Pyrrha had easily dispatched tougher opponents then that in some of their excursions to fight Grimm while taking classes.

The more he thought about it, the more it left an oddly painful sensation in the back of Frost's head, as though the overthinking was now giving him a headache combined with the stress of everything that had happened in recent days just catching up to him. That, and he was feeling very nauseous all of a sudden. It was with that that Frost's body started to move almost like a zombie towards the window as his face paled.

Yang looked at Frost with an expression of worry and confusion at his movements, while Neo recognized the telltale signs before teleporting across Yang's bed with a quick flash and unhinged and opened the window, letting in a sudden chilly breeze, just as Frost reached the opening and stuck his head out the window while firmly grasping the bottom of the windowsill with his hands flashing briefly and a sharp crack of wood as the retching sounds began.

Yang looked at the two of them in shock, now realizing what was going on. "What the heck, man?! Thanks for using the outdoors, but a little warning next time would be appreciated, for Oums sake!"

Neo grimaced in apology as Frost continued to vomit out the window as she stepped away slightly. "Sorry about that. It doesn't happen often, but if he starts to over process things and stress out too much it makes him nauseous. While he's busy praying to the outdoors though, let me get your number in case we split up anywhere and have to contact you since he's the only one with your Scroll number at the moment."

Yang nodded dumbly at Neo's practiced explanation as she handed over her Scroll. She then shook her head before replying to Neo while Frost leaned back inside with a deep breath before wincing at the damage his grip on the windowsill had caused. "And this never happened while he was stuck at Beacon with the rest of us? What the hell?"

"Like I said, it's a combination of stress and overthinking things. It was probably because he had the four of you constantly checking on him and bringing him back down from his freak-outs that it never got this bad. That and he hasn't talked much about the actual events of the city lately, mostly just brief jokes to let the conversation pass I guess. Something we'll need to work on-" Neo said while delivering another whack of her hand to Frost's arm, which he winced at with a nonplussed expression before shuffling over to sit at an empty chair occupying the room. "-while we're out looking for the others in that case."

Frost gave Neo a tired look as he hunched over in his seat. "Yes, mom."

* * *

Yang couldn't help but chuckle at the antics of the two in their kitchen as they gathered up their things while Taiyang and her watched. While she was by no means okay with everything going on, she at least had been snapped out of the dark funk she had been and come to the realization that there were still those that cared about her despite what had happened. Didn't mean she wasn't going to enjoy scolding Blake though. She reached over to give her father a gentle one-armed hug to which he reacted with surprise for a moment before he put one arm around her shoulders as they turned to face the other two, their gear now firmly in place as they stood by the open door to the house.

"Thank you again for giving us the chance to rest our feet for a bit." Neo said with a slight bow.

"The offer to stay the night and rest is still open, you know." Taiyang stated even as the two shook their heads politely.

"While we appreciate the offer," Frost began. "The sooner we get back to the city and finding a lead, the sooner we can preferably catch up to someone. Preferably Blake or Ruby, but if all else fails we can always try a jailbreak with Weiss in Atlas to keep things exciting."

"Well if it gets to that, best of luck with the robots." Taiyang said with a laugh.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Yang said with a wink towards the two as they turned to leave, the door gently shutting behind them.

The two continued to stand with arms around the other for a few more moments before Taiyang turned to place both hands on Yang's shoulders with a serious expression on his face. "Are you sure you'll be okay, Yang?"

Yang's expression saddened before she walked over to one of the windows to see Frost and Neo as they shifted aside some brush to continue on their way. "No, probably not for a while. After everything that's happened, okay is the least thing from my mind." Her expression lifted somewhat as she turned to face her father again, much to his relief. "But I know I've got friends out there that will help me if things get down. So there is that at least."

She looked outside once more as her father stood beside her with a hand on her shoulder. "They'll be fine, sweetheart."

"I hope so."


	4. Chapter 4

**So, first things first. I apologize for how close to the wire this got in the two week maximum I set for myself. And for the fact that this just another filer/exposition chapter. This will be the case for a little longer though as we finish setting things up for the larger portions of the story. Fear not though, things will start picking up very quickly very soon.**

 **So for those of you still reading thus far, I appreciate your continued interest and wish you all the best.**

* * *

"So tell me again why we promised that Blake would be the first person we tried to find?" Neo asked Frost out of curiosity as the two approached a large landing pad that currently had one of the emergency bulkheads stationed and was currently dropping off any recent refugees they had moved from closer to the city of Vale. "It seems to me like your friend, the Schnee girl, would be our easier first choice given we actually know where she is at this point with no likelihood of her moving out of there anytime soon."

"Ok, for one, her name is Weiss." Frost stated quickly as he raised a finger. He raised another as he continued responding to Neo's question. "For another, Weiss will still probably end up being who we go to talk to first, I just want to see if we can find any leads as to what Blake might be up to while she's off on her own. I've had a gut instinct this entire time that she wouldn't just up and leave without what she thought was a good reason for it. The White Fang appearing and Yang losing her arm from their leader likely has Blake feeling responsible, as ridiculous as that sounds. So she probably left to do something about them herself to avoid getting anyone else involved." The sound of leather crinkling filled the air around them for a brief moment as he clenched his fists in his gauntlets, pulling the inner lining tight as he took a deep breath to calm himself. "So we're going to the last place they ran into the White Fang to see if there's any clue to where Blake might be headed, barring she didn't destroy her trail behind her."

"Well, whatever we end up deciding on if we even find anything, I still say that from what little I've heard and seen of this girl, she really doesn't sound like the brightest Faunus I've met." Neo mumbled under her breath as they neared the assorted civilians and Huntsmen surrounding the landing pad. "Not that I've met any smart ones yet at this point."

"Might wanna consider rewording that last statement there, sweetheart." An unknown voice said from behind the pair. "I've got a friend and teammate that's a Faunus, and I don't appreciate hearing others badmouth her kind for something she didn't get involved in."

"Wait a second," Frost said with a sound of surprise as he started to turn around, "I've heard that voice before." As he finished turning, his eyes widened at the sight of the person that had been speaking to Neo. "Coco!"

"Still alive and kicking, not that the Grimm haven't been trying their hardest to change that fact anytime we head into the outskirts of the city for anyone that hasn't been fully evacuated yet." Coco stated with a smirk as she placed one hand on her hip with a brief glance at Frost before returning her gaze to Neo. "Don't think I've met your friend before though; never saw her at Beacon before shit hit the fan, or during the chaos after all of the Grimm swarmed the damn place at least."

"Coco, this is my childhood friend, Neo." Frost began as he gestured towards the petite girl next to him before returning the gesture towards Coco while turning to look at Neo. "Neo, this fashion-crazed girl is, or I guess was, a student in her second year at Beacon as the leader of Team CFVY. Mercury and Emerald fought against her and her teammate Yatsuhashi back in the doubles round, remember?"

"Wait, that was you?!" Neo exclaimed as both hands moved to her mouth in shock. "I am so sorry I didn't recognize you right away! I hope your team is doing alright now, even after everything that's happened to them!"

Coco gave the two of them a look as she raised one eyebrow while pulling down her shades a small way. "I appreciate the comment, but now I've got a few questions both in regards to what you two are doing here…" Coco paused for a moment before turning a cold gaze towards Frost, to which he shuffled his feet slightly at the piercing gaze. "Why does it sound like you two knew them more than just by name, and that you haven't been upfront with everyone about something?"

Frost chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head a bit before gesturing towards the landed bulkhead. "Any chance we can talk while we fly towards the city? It'll take some time to explain."

"And what makes you think that my team and I are even the ones getting on this pass anyways?"

Neo spoke up as he gained Coco's attention once more, "Because you have your handbag with you, and we can see your teammates approaching with their own weapons readied as well."

Coco glanced behind her to see that her team was in fact, just now approaching with their assorted gear in place as people, both Huntsmen and civilians alike, parted to let them pass with words of thanks and prayers of safety. "Huh, lucky guess I suppose." She turned back to the two as she motioned towards the bulkhead as she walked between the two of them. "Well, follow me I guess, and we'll get to talking on the flight in. Just know that if we either think you're withholding anything or don't like what we hear, we won't be letting you out of our sight anytime soon, even when we land outside the city."

"That's fair, considering we don't have any faster way in at this point." Neo bowed her head in thanks as they all started to pile onto the airship.

* * *

"Good grief." Coco's eyes were wide as her shades were currently raised while the rest of her team gave Frost and Neo looks of pity and shock. "You two went through all of that, and you were actually caught right up in the middle of it all, huh? Shit sucks."

"Coco!" Velvet exclaimed from next to her leader. "Be nice, I doubt this is hard for them to say at this point."

"Not as hard as you'd think actually, considering we've had practice explaining to a few people now." Frost stated with a shrug. "That's actually partly why we're even here right now. We just finished coming from seeing how Yang was doing and speaking to her father. They know the story now too, and we're off to see if we can find any leads as to where Blake went off to."

"Wait, Ruby wasn't with her sister?" Velvet spoke up once more with a sound of confusion and worry as all attention was turned to her. "What happened?"

"Nothing serious, if that's what you're concerned about." Frost said with a raised hand as he attempted to lower Velvet's concern. "She had already left with the rest of Team JNPR…or I guess whatever you call them without Pyrrha…to find answers of their own." No one missed the cold look Frost gained on his face and the tightened muscles in his shoulder as he finished his statement.

"Hey, listen." Coco said softly as she reached forward to place a hand gently on Frost's shoulder in the small space as the airship began to descend towards their destination. "I know you would have known them a bit more than us considering how much time you had to spend around Team RWBY and by extension JNPR, but you need to let this go and admit that this is how things are now."

"And accept that one of the best people I've ever known got killed by some psychotic bitch that's also responsible for that?!" Frost shouted as he pointed one finger accusingly at the sight ahead of them, where the ruins of the City of Vale sat as Grimm could be seen moving to and fro amongst the rubble closer to the edge of the city where Beacon's remains sat. "You're telling me I have to _accept it_?! Just give up and admit that Cinder won and killed who knows how many people with her sick power play for whatever schemes she's enacting? You heard that announcement as well as I did when it was her voice over the coliseum intercom system as she basically admitted that this was her whole plan this entire time!" Frost looked over to Neo as he placed a hand on his arm in an effort to get him to calm down. After taking a deep breath when seeing that his arms had been starting to glow somewhat to calm his Semblance and muscles, he continued with a more controlled tone of voice. "Cinder is the one behind all of this, and I intend on finding out what her plans are before I beat the living shit out of her myself for what she's done."

"That's all fine and good, Frost." Neo said from beside him. "But don't lose yourself while doing it. I know what that feeling is like, and I don't think I could take it if you had to deal with the same thing I did."

"Did you guys forget to mention something when we were talking earlier?" Coco said with a small smirk. "Cause if you two need some privacy for some boyfriend-girlfriend talk then we're already satisfied about everything we've heard. Don't need to get us involved in this kind of stuff, just saying."

Frost's face froze with a look of shock and a very small, almost unnoticeable blush while Neo spluttered with an exasperated voice as she turned her gaze to Coco with a blush of her own. "Excuse you, miss fashion sense. But we are NOT like that. The truth is there are certain things we aren't comfortable with telling everyone unless one of us knows them well enough, so kindly leave your assumptions to yourself. Now if you'll excuse us, we have places to be."

With Neo's impromptu speech out the way, the two of them disappeared in a flash as Neo teleported them into the city itself, leaving Team CFVY behind as they started climbing off of the airship. Velvet turned and gave Coco a disapproving look as they signaled the airship with how long they would be.

"Was that really necessary, Coco? They're likely still hurting from everything that went on. Why did you have to tease them like that?"

"Oh come on Velvs, it was just in fun. You know me." Coco said with a shrug as she re-positioned her shades in front of her eyes. "Besides, don't lie and tell me you didn't see it as well. Those two are some of the closest people I've ever seen, and it's not often a simple gesture like a hand on the arm can calm someone that worked up. Call it what you want, but even if they don't realize it themselves, they're pretty fucking close compared to most people. Even if I'm wrong, I say there's still something there, just depends on if anything comes from it."

Velvet shook her head with a sigh as she accepted it as Coco just being her regular over-dramatic self. "Either way, we have people we need to evacuate. Are you coming or not?"

"Hey, I thought I was team leader? When did you suddenly start muscling in on my territory?"

"Coco! You know I didn't mean it like that!"

"I know Velvet, I know."


	5. Chapter 5

**First things first, apologies for the slight delay even though I did say I was going for a maximum two week window between updates. Had a few plans over the Thanksgiving weekend (I live in Canada in case that left anyone confused), and I actually had less time to do writing between that, doing the newest raid on Destiny, and getting my car prepped for winter weather. Busy weekend I guess.**

 **Anyways, we are closely approaching the end of the first arc of the story (yes I know it does feel a little short), but this is meant to be mostly exposition and setup for the rest of the story, at which point things will start to pick up quite a bit more. So I hope people are looking forward to that.**

 **Finally, apologies if this chapter feels a little weird. I ended up doing it over two days compared to my usual one sitting before finishing it, so I hope it's still cohesive. Otherwise, enjoy and leave any reviews/critiques on your thoughts.**

* * *

The air in the ruined cafeteria of Beacon was still. Shattered tables and chunks from the ceiling littered the floor of the building as Grimm meandered back and forth amongst the rubble that remained of the surrounding campus. Even the old statue of assorted Huntsman in the courtyard lay in ruins after all of the chaos of Cinder's grand plan had occurred. A small pack of Beowolves and a couple of Ursa happened nearby the building, their claws clicking and scraping against the ground as they moved.

After a few moments of silence once the Grimm had passed, Frost and Neo appeared within a sharp flash of light. Thankfully the Grimm were facing the away from the ruined building, and thus did not see the arrival of the campus' newest visitors. The two of them gave each other a silent nod as they began to carefully move debris around in the hopes they could find a lead as to where Blake might have headed off after fleeing the rest of the students and faculty.

Their eyes flickered back and forth in the hopes of finding any sort of clue- be it a unique scratch, a hidden note, anything they could go off of to potentially track the raven-haired Faunus down. For a while, it seemed as though they wouldn't find anything of note, and thus have to share the unfortunate news with Yang before heading off to Atlas to get in touch with Weiss.

At least until a scream of terror pierced the silence around them.

Frost's head whipped around with eyes filled with worry towards the direction he had heard the scream come from, only to see Neo on her rear as her eyes lay locked on something amidst the debris. He quickly moved to her side to see what the issue was whilst keeping his eyes peeled on the chance that the Grimm had been alerted to their presence in anyway. He carefully placed a hand on Neo's shoulder to alert her to his presence, to which she responded by whipping around with a look of fear on her face, before recognizing who it was and immediately diving into his chest while holding her arms to her chest as her body shook with fright.

"Neo?" Frost asked gently, his voice trying to convey a calm that inside he knew was anything but. "What did you see?"

Neo's head turned up to look at him while his arms circled her in a soothing embrace, her eyes filled with tears as she slowly lifted a hand to gesture into the pile she had shimmied away from. "I c-can't…just look for yourself…" Her sobs were the only sound to fill the air as Frost moved his arms away from Neo, but not without placing a hand on her shoulder as they shared a look that said he would right nearby if she needed him.

Frost's hands worked quickly as he sifted through the debris that had collapsed back onto the pile after Neo had jerked away from moving things, his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary amidst a crumbled cafeteria. His hands and arms flashed motes of white light every once in a while as he applied his Semblance at times to move away larger chunks of the pile that hadn't been on the pile before Neo's sudden movement had dislodged things. After a few moments he stopped moving debris to give Neo a confused look and a shrug of his shoulders due to not finding anything out of the ordinary.

Neo took a deep breath as she opened her mouth to reply to his unspoken request. "Keep digging, it's still in there…" Neo shuddered somewhat at the memory of what she had seen before continuing. "It probably moved when the pile shifted…but I know what I saw…"

Frost nodded his head once before returning to his work on the rubble, his arms continuing their mechanical pace of lifting and depositing any of the wreckage off to the side. As he reached the last bit of the pile, he noticed an odd reflection of light off of an object in the pile. A few moments later, he too reeled back from the pile with a hand to his mouth in shock at what he could now clearly see uncovered by the work he had done.

Yang's severed arm.

Frost's legs collapsed as he fell to his knees, his eyes wide as his head seared with pain, his hands clasped to both sides of his head as though to stop the thumping that was once again passing through his skull. This pain was the same, if not worse, to the pain he had felt after Yang had said that Pyrrha had been killed by Cinder atop Beacon Tower. His vision flashed to shades of black as his sight began to fail him due to the intense pain running through his head, one hand slowly reaching towards Neo as he looked towards her with a silent plead for help. He saw her body start to move from its position with her sitting atop the ground clutching her hands to her chest, her own terror forgotten in favour of the new fear at seeing Frost in this state. He wouldn't see her reach him however as his body slumped to the side, unconscious due to him fainting from the intense pain. Neo quickly reached his body and placed a hand on his chest, a quick breath of relief escaping her mouth as she felt an erratic, but strong heartbeat in his chest. The relief was short-lived however as the growls and screeches of Grimm began to get louder, likely due to the influx of negative emotions the two of them had felt at the sight of the severed limb. Her eyes gained a strong resolve as she propped Frost's upper body up to clutch him to her chest with an awkward embrace as she teleported the two of them into another part of Vale before the Grimm could attack them in their unprepared state.

* * *

Frost's head slowly rolled around an hour later as he slowly regained consciousness, Neo's hand quickly moving to his chest to stop him from moving too much after what she had seen. His vision swam slightly as he shook his head to clear the sight of two people from his blurred sight; his first thought that he was still dizzy from collapsing. As his vision stabilized however, he attempted to shuffle away quickly at the surprise of the second person that was clearly present with Neo and himself.

* * *

 _Shortly after Neo and Frost had teleported out of the old cafeteria._

Neo panted for breath after the long-range teleport she had performed to get Frost and herself as far away from Beacon as was possible. Her vision blurred for a moment with dizziness as she looked around for the closest alleyway she could hide the two of them in until Frost could wake up from his unconscious state. As her eyes scanned about she heard a voice come from nearby, her head turning to see a flicker of coloured cloth come from a nearby building that was still in relatively good shape despite the damage the city had sustained.

Neo took a deep breath as she focused her mind on the building itself, herself and Frost disappearing in a dull flash a moment later as she transported them to the first floor of the building. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw another person in the room with them, their body leaned against an old desk as they regarded the two people in front of them.

Emerald's red eyes held a look of confusion as she looked at the collapsed body of Frost and the trails from tears still lingering on her face. Her mouth opened as though to speak, but shut again a moment later before she silently walked off to an adjoining room while Neo carefully shifted Frost's body so that he was laying on an old couch in the room they currently presided. A few moments later, Emerald returned with a couple glasses of water before setting them on an end table nearby before walking over to the wall across the room to lean against it as she gave Neo and Frost a confused look.

"I thought I was imagining things when I saw the two of you just appear out of nowhere in the streets like that." Emerald started as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Figured that the two of you would be hot on Cinder's trail by now after everything she put you through."

Neo gave Emerald a cautious look for a moment before her mask fell, her worry and anxiety from recent events bleeding through. "We would have, except Frost wanted to try and check in on anyone before heading off to find any leads. You know as well as I do that Cinder never told me anything about her plans, except whenever my illusions and teleporting were useful to her plans. Though that does raise the question of why you're still here, as well."

Emerald scoffed as she gave a look of disgust out a random window off to the side. "I may have managed to trick Mercury and help you two escape, but that doesn't mean I have the same capability of escaping as you do. My hallucinations only go so far, and trying to trick crowds of White Fang loyal to Cinder while also fleeing Grimm isn't exactly doable. So I decided to hide out in the one place Cinder would never think I stayed in- the place she just destroyed."

Neo nodded her head with understanding before a look of confusion crossed her face. "But wait…that reminds me of something Frost and I had been asking each other when we were going off to see..." Neo paused as she tried to explain what they were doing without saying names- Emerald had helped them, but that didn't mean she had her entire trust, "…a classmate of his. Why DID you help us up on that rooftop? You could have just as easily helped Mercury off us like Cinder wanted and then continued on your way. What changed?"

"Cinder did." Emerald stated plainly. "Ever since we recruited Mercury she was a lot harsher and stricter than I saw her be when she had come to me for help. When she asked for my assistance, she promised that I would finally be able to have others around me to help, and that I wouldn't have to live hungry or alone anymore." Emerald snarled with disgust before finishing. "She was partly right, I'll give her that."

"What do you mean?" Neo asked as she tore a patch of cloth off of a discarded bedsheet before pouring a small amount of water on it to apply to Frost's forehead, his breath still slowly rising and falling as his senses ad yet to return.

"I wasn't alone anymore, but things were even more violent and dangerous than when I had been on the streets peddling food and money off of anyone looking to help a "poor, innocent little girl", at least as far as they saw." Emerald's eyes turned down somewhat with a look of regret before she turned to look at Neo with a sidelong glance. "I never thought that we would have to kill anyone or hurt people as much as we did, especially not as much as things got when the city here was attacked. By the time I figured it out, I was too far in. Going against Cinder alone would have been risky, but with everyone else on her task force there was no way I could make it out alive. Then I came across you two, strung up in Torchwick's own schemes and also looking for a way out."

Neo sighed as she grabbed the other glass of water before taking a sip. "…Did Cinder ever tell you about the weird drug Torchwick had gotten his hands on? The one that he dosed Frost and I with?"

"Only in passing." Emerald admitted with a shrug. "She mentioned that it would make you two more willing to go along with our plans, and when she said it I pretty much gave up any hope of getting out of things."

"Wait, you were going to ask for our help to escape at first?" Neo said with a look of genuine shock before getting up to sit at the end of the couch next to Frost's feet.

"Not right away, obviously. But once I saw the two of you in a fight and saw what you were capable of, I honestly thought the three of us would stand a good chance at getting out using our skills like a weird sort of team," Emerald admitted with a sheepish grin. "But like I said, that dropped the moment she mentioned that the drug would make you willing. How true was that, anyways?"

Neo gave Frost's face a brief look before turning again to face Emerald. "For Frost, not at all as it turned out. Apparently his Semblance was able to fend it off since he rarely ever got sick or injured for long even as a kid once he unlocked it. It…wasn't so nice for me." Neo's voice trailed off, her hands reaching around to cling to her arms in a protective self-embrace as the images of the disturbed version of herself stabbed her, the sight of her own blade hanging over Yang's chest, her slow walk towards Ruby atop the cruise ship before being jostled away into the wind where Frost and her reunited after so long. After a few deep breaths she looked back up to see that Emerald had moved closer and was kneeling in front of her with a hand cautiously held out as though to reassure Neo in some way, though the nervous look on her face stated on its own that Emerald was also still nervous in regards to previous encounters they had.

"…But it's okay now. We managed to get it out of my system and as far as we know there haven't been any negative effects." Neo said with a small, albeit fake smile plastered on her face.

Emerald's nervous expression changed to that of skepticism as she stood up and crossed her arms once again. "Yeah, and I'm the wizard from the Tale of the Maidens. I saw that look on your face. You did things you aren't proud of and are even scared by, and you know what? So did I. Except I don't go around trying to bottle it up and forget it like you are. I admit that I've done terrible things, but now that I'm finally free from Cinder's grip, I'm going to do the most I can to make sure it doesn't happen again to anyone else that falls for her lies and scripts."

"By hiding out in an abandoned building in the ruins of Vale?" Neo was now the one to wear the look of skepticism as she crossed her arms and legs on the couch, a smug smile on her face at the rapid deflation of Emerald's bravado that was apparent only moments earlier. "Yeah, very convincing."

"Well, whatever. Now that you two are here, the three of us can join up and head off to Haven to track Cinder. She didn't think I was going to turn traitor at any point, so she trusted me with her plans thankfully." Emerald walked over to grab one of the glasses before moving as though to dump it on Frost's head in an effort to wake him up.

"STOP!" Neo yelled before jumping up to stop Emerald's arm from tipping too far. "Don't do that!"

"And why is that?" Emerald asked with a look of surprise and confusion. "He's asleep, and I was going to wake him up so we can get on our way. What's the problem with that?"

"Because he's not asleep, he's unconscious!"

"Pretty sure those are the same thing there, pint-size."

Neo's eyes narrowed into a glare. "…Ignoring that jab for the moment, there is a very large difference in this case. Remember how I said that Frost never really got sick or injured for long even when we were young?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well in the past few days alone he has vomited outside of a window mid conversation when he looked completely healthy moments earlier, gotten sudden headaches and winces of pain numerous times, and now fainted from some unknown cause." Neo's eyes turned concerned once more as she kneeled beside his form, her hand moving to his forehead as she shifted the cloth somewhat as it had shifted from her sudden shifting of the couch. "Something is wrong with him, and we won't know what it is until he's awake. But waking him up by force is not going to help anything. We just need to wait."

Emerald gave Neo a look of curiosity for a moment before turning to look at Frost's body. A moment later a smirk appeared on her face as his body shifted, a light groan leaving his throat as his eyes flickered open slowly. "Looks like we won't be waiting long then. Can't be quite as bad as you thought in that case."

"We'll see." Neo stated plainly as she watched Frost slowly awaken.

A few moments later, Frost's eyes opened fully, before widening in shock as he attempted to quickly shuffle away in surprise at the sight of Emerald before a reassuring hand from Neo rested itself on his arm to calm him down. "Frost…I think you might want one of those glasses of water. We've got a lot to go over."

Frost gave the two of them confused looks before looking around and realizing they were no longer in the ruins of the cafeteria back at Beacon. His eyes flew about as they tried to make sense of what they were seeing, his head throbbing somewhat as he tried to process what was going on. In the end, he came up with only one question he could get out amongst his confusion.

"What happened?"


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is not necessarily as plot heavy as others, but I feel like I could still use practice with actually writing combat sequences for stories prior to larger scuffles yet to happen in this story. I hope you all enjoy gratuitous butt-kicking as we get some Grimm crushing going on.** **As always, leave any thoughts below.**

 **As an aside, thank you to a couple of the recent reviews I've gotten on this story. It really makes me happy to get praise like that, and just helps reinforce this story and my novel idea as a good idea for me to have come up with and follow through on. I hope you continue to enjoy what I make!**

* * *

"…So let me get this straight." Frost started after placing a hand to his head and shaking it back a forth a few times. "Cinder left with her forces to go to Haven. Mercury would have gone with them after he got out of that dumpster you threw him in- nice choice by the way- but you don't know exactly which part of Haven they went to because Cinder didn't even tell either you or Mercury where it was?"

"Pretty much." Emerald stated with a shrug as she leaned against the wall near the door to the hallway.

"What about Torchwick? Do you know if he told her where to go at all? Her plans did kind of hinge on us using that airship during the chaos, so I assume she intended on having him follow with it if possible rather than letting him run off with a fully decked out warship belonging to Atlas." Neo interjected with a look of realization after a few moments of thought from the group.

"As far as I know, it was always riddles with her whenever Torchwick asked for orders. She would never tell him outright, only that he would know what he needs when he needed to know." Emerald sighed.

"Figures." Frost groaned as he leaned back into the couch with a grunt of displeasure. The three of them were silent for a while as they each tried to figure out some way to track down Cinder's direction before moving forward with their plans.

It was Neo that spoke up after a while of unsuccessful suggestions. "The Scroll!"

"Uh…gonna have to use full sentences here, pint-size." Emerald stated with a look of confusion directed Neo's way while Frost looked on with interest written on his face.

"The scroll that Cinder passed to me to give Torchwick to override the airship controls as well as the soldiers!" Neo exclaimed with an excited look on her face. "What if Cinder never intended to _tell_ him at all? What if the ship was programmed to redirect towards wherever their next destination was from the beginning once the proper signal was sent?"

"That's…not a bad idea. Cinder's not one to let loose ends fly free- literally in this case- so she would have had the ship redirect on the knowledge that Torchwick would have had no clue how to drive the damn thing." Frost stated with a nod of understanding.

"One problem with that though," Emerald started, at which the other two turned to give her both looks of questioning before she continued. "The ship crashed, remember? That's why the Atlas army stopped killing people instead of fighting Grimm and shutdown. How are we supposed to retrieve the directions from a wrecked ship?"

"Easy." Frost stated with a smirk. "We go to the wreckage, and sift through it until we reach the main console somewhere in the debris."

Neo shuddered somewhat as the three of them got up, Frost and Emerald each putting a hand on one of Neo's shoulders. "At least this wreckage won't have someone's severed arm in it." And with that, the three disappeared from the room in a flash of light, the only signs of their having been there the forgotten glasses of water on the end table.

* * *

The three of them reappeared on the rooftop that had held the scuffle between Mercury and Frost before everything had come to a head. After a few moments of deliberation, they all turned and started looking in different directions over the horizon for any signs of a smoking wreckage or mark of a large object landing somewhere within the city. Each one of them paused somewhat whenever their sight passed over the Dragon frozen atop Beacon Tower, its body massive even at a distance. After scanning around, Emerald was the one to spot some larger objects a few blocks over before signaling to the other two and hopping off of the rooftop to the ground below. The other two landed next to her on the ground a moment later before they each drew their weapons and started making their way through the streets in the direction of what Emerald had seen.

Their choice in arming themselves was well placed, as after seeing nothing for a couple blocks, they came upon a large pack of Grimm, with smatterings of Ursas, Beowolves, and even a few Boarbatusks amongst the pack. The three of them quickly backtracked into the alley they had just left just in time as an Ursa was moments from turning to spot them.

"There's a fair number of them over there. What are our options?" Neo asked as the three huddled together to decide on their course of action.

"If it were just some Beowolves and Boarbatusks we would be fine I think." Frost said as he rubbed at his chin in thought. He peeked his head out for a quick moment to do a brief headcount before ducking back into the alley. "As it stands, there's at least a half-dozen Beowolves, three Boarbatusks, and two Ursas. Not entirely sure how we're supposed to get past them."

"Couldn't Neo just teleport us past them and closer to the warship?" Emerald asked with curiosity.

"If we didn't care about how far from the ship we'd be, then maybe." Neo started as she shook her head in disagreement. "But since I don't know this area of Vale well, we could appear anywhere between here and the ship, with debatably more Grimm to fight if we appear in the wrong place. We'll have to fight our way through and hope that we don't run into too many more before we reach the ship, otherwise we could be in trouble."

Frost pounded one armored fist against the open palm of another with a smirk of delight. "Perfect. We've been so busy the last couple days just tracking that we haven't gotten a chance to lower the Grimm population a bit. Plus, I've been getting a bit antsy lately with everything going on. Might be a good way to vent some steam."

Emerald shook her head with a smirk of her own as she readied her sickles in their gun-forms. "If it weren't for being stuck on different sides of things, that kind of attitude would have you and Mercury getting along pretty well I'd say."

"If that's the case, then Yang would be there as well." Neo said with a chuckle from the other two. "The three of them working together would not go well for anyone, I think."

"Yeah." Frost nodded his head in agreement. "You're probably right. Anyways, let's clear out a path so we can keep searching."

* * *

A few Beowolves sniffed the air lightly as the pack idled in the street. The Ursas rumbled back and forth amongst the group as a Boarbatusk pawed lightly at the ground, its snout low to the ground before jerking up with a snarl. The other Grimm reacted in similar fashion to the Boarbatusk as they all turned to face down a random street with red eyes scanning for helpless prey. One Beowolf decided it would be the impromptu scout as it slunk forwards, its claws clicking on the ground as it moved along the cobbled road.

As it passed a darkened alley however, its body was suddenly lit up with gunfire as Emerald slowly walked up with her guns ablaze on the lone Grimm. One of its claws rose to block its face from the hail of bullets until it stopped. The beast then snarled with disgust as it took a running leap at Emerald, only for its head to be separated from its body moments later as her sickles shifted into their blade forms and she quickly spun to avoid the beast's charge even as she swung one arm back around to slice cleanly through the Beowolf's neck. A few silent moments after the defeat of their fallen comrade, the rest of the Beowolves and a couple of Boarbatusks all charged Emerald at once, only for her body to shimmer out of existence as they neared her silent form.

The Grimm all stopped around where Emerald had been, each one of them looking about wildly in search of the prey that had suddenly escaped them. Their search would be rapidly interrupted however as a Beowolf that was starting to inspect the alley Emerald had walked out met a sudden end as a sharp blade burst from its back, its body rapidly dematerializing seconds later. At the same time, one of the Boarbatusks heads was suddenly caved in from above as Frost's armored fist slammed into it as he descended rapidly from a nearby rooftop.

With a new target amongst them, the Grimm redirected their attention to the lone boy in the pack that still consisted of a Boarbatusk and half-a-dozen Beowolves. Two wolves leapt as one to attempt to bury Frost beneath them, but with a sudden surge of light from his arms he had each beast's neck trapped in his armored grip. His exposed back would have been an easy target as a third wolf leapt at him, only for its body to change direction rapidly in midair as Neo's body sailed into its side feet first before bowling into another Beowolf. Her parasol deployed quickly to block an incoming swing from another wolf before she triggered the pointed blade inside and embedding it into the face of the Grimm that had made the mistake of getting into proximity of its sharp point.

The remaining wolves at the pack of the pack charged forward as one to attempt take advantage of the occupied attention of the two currently fighting, however it was during this charge that they failed to notice Emerald sprinting and leaping out of another alley and plunging both blades of her weapons into the back of one of the beasts causing it to stumble to the ground. She then used the continue momentum of her jump and the beasts forward motion to smoothly somersault over its prone form and ripping her weapons from its back before both of her feet planted themselves into the back of the other wolf's head, causing a sickening crack as it fell mask first into the concrete, it's skull crushed from the blow and its body dissipating seconds later. As she stood amidst the rapidly diminishing smoke she transformed her weapons back into guns and unleashed a spray of bullets into the other wolf's form as it attempted to pick itself off of the ground, only to be erased from the hail of bullets, its body not as fortunate as the previous Grimm that Emerald had fired upon to start of the battle.

The remaining wolves and Boarbatusk that were surrounding Frost and Neo proved little difficulty as Neo collapsed her parasol during a Beowolf's swing to throw the creature off-balance before delivering a wicked somersault kick to its chin, causing it to reel backwards from the sharp blow. Meanwhile, the two wolves struggled in Frost's grip as he brought both creatures bodies into a swift descent to the ground, their bodies landing with a solid thud on the ground as he released a small charge of electricity from each hand into the two Grimm, their bodies convulsing briefly from the powerful energy before slumping in defeat, their bodies joining their comrades amongst the black mist of the defeated Grimm that was fading into the air around them.

At this point, only one Boarbatusk and two wolves remained, though that number would quickly drop to one and one as Neo plunged her blade into the stumbling Grimm in front of her, it's body slumping forward on the sword as it snarled in rage only to jerk a moment later as Emerald's blades impaled its back, the damage toll being enough to dissipate that wolf as well. With only two Grimm near the three of them Frost ran at the Boarbatusk now spinning in their direction, his feet planting firmly on the ground as he braced both arms against the whirling body of the Boarbatusk to stop its forward momentum. His face crumpled into a look of deep concentration as he struggled against the sheer force of the Grimm's body as Neo and Emerald toyed with the remaining wolf before eventually silencing it in a similar way to the one previous. At a brief glance to see the coast clear, Frost's face gained a smirk as his arms pulsed with another quick burst of light and he managed to grasps the Boarbatusks horns mid-spin and using the beasts own movement against it and planting its tusked head into the ground as it squirmed from its frozen position.

Frost signaled Neo to stop as she raised her blade to pierce the exposed underbelly of the beast and gave him a look of confusion as he walked around to the opposite side of the creature and adopted a taunting stance at the remaining three Grimm that had held back in the chaos. The last Boarbatusk snarled in disgust at the obvious display before whirling into motion and spinning rapidly in Frost's direction. Just as it's spin would carry it into the group of three like a bowling ball into pins, they disappeared in a flash of light even as the forward momentum of the Boarbatusk carried it's horns into the exposed underbelly of its comrade, killing it instantly. It then also died as a surge of electricity surged into it from beyond the black smoke as Neo had timed the teleport to carry them just into the opposite side of the Grimm where Frost had first stood and stopped the beast's motion.

This now left only the two Ursas that now began to rumble forwards towards the group, at which point Emerald began to once again released a hail of gunfire at the two as Neo disappeared in a mote of light and Frost's arms began to charge with energy, his fists tight at his sides. Once they got close enough, Emerald transformed her guns for the final time as she began to parry and dodge swipes from the two Ursas and keeping their attention off of Frost as he stood back. One of the beasts stumbled forward mid-swing as Neo's entire weight fell upon its back, her parasol's blade embedded in the creatures back as she began to ride it with a look of intense concentration on her face as well. She then jerked her body to the side, causing the Grimm she was currently sitting on to stumble into its comrade, the two collapsing to the side in a heap of limbs as Neo leapt free and moved away from the group while Emerald did the same.

A moment later as the Grimm worked to disentangle from each other both of their bodies were lit up as a pair of strong waves of electricity- much stronger than that of previous waves sent coursing through the wolves or Boarbatusk- slammed into their forms and transferred back and forth between their bodies like a looped circuit. As the arcs of lightning dissipated, both Neo and Emerald calmly stepped forward and planted a blade each firmly into the skull of a Ursa, the final two Grimm perishing moments later.

The three of them took deep breaths for a few moments as they collected themselves after the first combat they had as a trio. With a silent nod to each other, they all quickly moved into another nearby alleyway as they silently made the rest of their way to the crashed warship, this time managing to avoid smaller packs of Grimm along the way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Since RT's site was having some issue this morning, I decided to write the next chapter of the story while waiting to watch the first episode of Season 4 today. Yay for being a FIRST member!**

 **Now, for anyone now, but also just to reiterate a point I made previously- this story will not be canon to Volume 4. I may take certain things into account at least in terms of people's current attitude given things that have happened, but stuff that happens in Volume 4 will not likely happen in here, and vice-versa (unless weird coincidences occur, but that would be just weird).**

 **Either way, enjoy the final installment to the first act of the story. Drop any criticism following your read or if you just have thoughts about the story. Peace!**

* * *

Frost, Neo, and Emerald all panted for breath as they arrived at the wreckage of the lead ship of the Atlesian fleet. They had avoided most of the Grimm due to using side streets and short bursts of Neo's teleporting; however they were still forced to fight smaller forces here and there that they were unable to avoid. It had gotten to the point where as they got closer they discarded the element of stealth to avoid Neo collapsing from exhaustion from teleporting more than one person numerous times. Thus, Emerald and Frost had taken point in eliminating the smaller packs as quickly as they could while Neo picked off the occasional straggler with her blade.

"You know," Frost panted as he held a hand against a larger piece of rubble to keep himself upright. "We should really look into getting a gun built into that umbrella of yours, Neo. There'll likely be some fights down the road where even your acrobatics and blade won't do much good."

Neo sent a pointed glare in Frost's direction as she wiped away a few beads of sweat from her forehead. "Well I'm sorry I don't have a Semblance that lets me create my own projectiles, mister battery man."

Frost's brow furrowed as he glared back in response. "Okay, for one I know one of the best ways I've come to describing my Semblance was like a battery in terms of how much I can put out at any given time, but-"

"Would the two of you just shut up?!" Emerald snapped in a whisper-yell, immediately silencing the two of them with looks of surprise. "The Grimm are attracted to negativity, remember? So how about we stop getting on each other's cases and find that damn Scroll…if it's still even in this pile of scrap, at least."

The other two declared a truce as they all began sifting through the debris. Thanks to Neo actually having gotten a rough idea of the ship's layout due to her being tasked with breaking out Torchwick and commandeering the ship, the three of them were able to find the remains of the command deck considerably faster than if they had been searching blind. That wasn't to say that it hadn't been severely damaged in the crash. What remained of the command deck at first glance were piles of loose wiring, consoles, and various devices littering the ground as they dug around in search of the main console, which seemed to be much harder to find then even Neo had anticipated.

As their search continued without any signs of success, the three of them were rapidly approaching giving up their search and instead resorting to searching out potential leads elsewhere or otherwise leave for one of the other kingdoms. That was, until Frost shouted out to catch the attention of the other two amidst the wreckage.

"What is it? What did you find?" Neo inquired as she vaulted over a larger piece of rubble and approached Frost's back, as he was currently turned away from her. Emerald was close behind, a look of curiosity etched on her face as she also wondered what the apparent fuss was about.

"Take a look for yourself." Frost stated as he lifted a piece of debris with one hand and fished out a long, soot covered object from the debris. At first, the object seemed like nothing special, if anything it appeared to be a long rod-likely from a connecting joint or some sort of monitoring device if anyone could hazard a random guess. It was once it was fully removed from the rubble that the others finally saw what Frost had also seen before stepping back in surprise.

Roman Torchwick's weapon- Melodic Cudgel.

* * *

The three of them looked at the uncovered object in Frost's hands with shock. Roman Torchwick-dead? As far as any of them were concerned the man usually had a way out of most scenarios, so to discover that he had been bested by something caught all of them off-guard.

"You don't think…?" Neo asked as she turned to face Frost with a look of confusion and concern on her face.

"No. Ruby couldn't have done this." Frost stated, more to assuage his own worries than anything else. "Things may have been dire, but Ruby would be the last person I think would kill someone, even to defend herself. It's just not her M.O."

Emerald scoffed as she shook her head next to the others with her arms crossed over her chest. "Are you two really that naive? Vale was dying around all of us. Ruby was stuck up here, alone, facing off against the," Emerald shuddered and gagged as she uttered the next few words, " _most notorious criminal_ in all of Vale. He would have been out to kill her, and she would have been left with zero options given how isolated they were up here."

"You don't know Ruby like I do, Emerald." Frost snapped as he turned to glare at the crimson-eyed girl. "She is literally the last person that would result to killing if she could help it. I may not have known her or the rest of her team for a long time, but I knew them for long enough to get a feel for what kind of people they were. So don't get on my case for not anticipating someone's actions."

"Even when one of her best friends had been killed only hours earlier?" Emerald retorted as her fists clenched at her sides. "What about what happened to that robot-girl, Penny? I heard from Mercury how heartbroken she was at seeing her on the battlefield, broken."

Frost's mouth twisted into a snarl even as a headache once again began to flare up unbeknownst to the others. "Watch it, Emerald. I said that we'd be willing to give you a chance, but you are treading on seriously thin ice here. Choose your next words VERY carefully, because they'll decide whether or not we let you keep tagging along with us." Emerald's hand moved faster than the other two could anticipate, her fist swinging to pelt across Frost's face before either could react, her weapon forgotten at her side. Before things could escalate further, Neo stepped between the two with her arms outstretched.

"Enough! Both of you stop it!" Neo turned to face Frost first. "I trust that you know Ruby and her team better than either of us, but you need to watch it when you let your emotions act up like that! You know how that usually ends!" It was then that she turned to face Emerald, her expression remaining angry as she berated the green-haired girl. "And you! You may be trying to atone for what you've been a part of like the two of us, but Frost is still right in saying that there are lines that shouldn't be crossed! Plus you were the one saying to not get angry for risk of attracting the Grimm." She then turned to glance back and forth between the two of them as she continued. "For now I think the two of you need to go in separate direction to cool off before we decide on where we go next, alright?"

The other two begrudging agreed, but not without sending the other dirty looks before going in separate directions, with Frost walking over to an open area amidst some debris while Emerald climbed over a large pile in the opposite direction to continue her search. Neo turned to follow Frost first, as she knew that she would have an easier time talking to him than she would Emerald. As she came up beside him, she gently rested a hand against his arm, even as he turned and spat with disgust at the ground beside them.

"You have to give her a chance, Frost." Neo calmly stated at his side as she felt the muscles of his arm beneath the jacket ripple as he clenched and unclenched his fists in frustration. "She's trying to make up for her mistakes, and if we don't give her a chance, how can we expect others to give us one?"

"She talked about them as if they barely mattered, Neo." Frost stated as he looked up towards the smoky sky. "She didn't know Ruby like I did. That girl is nothing but joy and optimism and hope wrapped up in a speed-demon of a body. It's incredible."

Neo punched him lightly on the arm. "Watch it there, Casanova. Keep talking like that and you might get me thinking you have a crush on the girl."

Frost let out an honest laugh at that statement. "Yeah, no. Ruby's personality makes her feel more like a sister than anything else, plus I wouldn't want to deal with an overly protective Yang even if I was interested. Besides," Frost stated with a smirk as he turned to look down at the girl beside him, "you would just get jealous if I did suddenly start dating someone else." He laughed again as Neo's face lit up slightly as she spluttered for words. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! You can make all those jokes as much as you want, but you can never take it when it's thrown back in your face!"

Neo's face contorted into a frown as his laugh covered his hearing of the words Neo mumbled under her breath. " _It's because it's you saying it, you meathead._ "

"Anyways," Neo turned over to look at Frost once more as his laughing subsided. "Considering who we were just taking about, I never actually thought of it before with everything going on. I've got Ruby's number on my Scroll. I figure that I should probably contact her, if possible, to let the others know where we're at in terms of things."

"Almost a week after everything had happened, and NOW you remember that you have their numbers?" Neo asked with a raised eyebrow. "What about the others?"

"Too risky. Yang said that Blake ran off, so she wouldn't answer her Scroll most likely. Weiss got taken back to Atlas by her father, and considering that Atlas developed the CCT, he probably personally had a monitoring system put in place to track unknown calls to her Scroll. Ruby's the only other one we could risk reaching and hope to get through to at this point."

"Go ahead then, I guess." Neo said with a shrug as she took Torchwick's weapon from his hand to free it up at his silent request as he fiddled with his Scroll. Moments later, a dial-tone could be heard before an upbeat voice came over the device's speakers.

"You've reached Ruby! Who is i- FROST?! You're okay!" The young girls voice immediately shifted to an evidently shocked tone, her surprise clear as day even without seeing her face.

"Yes, Ruby. I'm fine." The smile could be heard in his voice as he spoke to another person responsible for him making peace with himself. "How are the others?"

"They're…alright, I guess. Considering what happened." The girl's tone shifted to a more somber note as the mood of the conversation rapidly shifted.

"It's okay Ruby, I heard from Yang." Frost replied back.

"You did?! How is she? Is she still…upset?"

"A little bit, but I think getting in there and giving her a dose of my patented morale-boosting speeches, she'll be just fine with your dad there."

Neo scoffed with a smile as she walked over in view of the Scroll's camera. "You mean the same speeches that generally ended in "Oops." or "My bad."?"

"Oh shush, you." Frost retorted with a brief sideways glance in Neo's direction.

Ruby's expression, on the other hand was a little more extreme. Not only was she surprised to see the same girl that she had seen fall from the airship, but to suddenly hear an actual voice coming from someone she had never heard speak previously was a shock in and of itself. As quickly as it happened however, a light-bulb went off in her head as conversations past came back to her.

"You found her!" Ruby exclaimed with glee as she smiled widely. Frost and Neo both jerked slightly at the sudden outburst before composing themselves quickly.

Frost cleared his throat before responding, "Yes Ruby, and I really have to thank you for the quick thinking with the airship fight you had against her and Torchwick. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to help you fight Torchwick without having to fight Neo as well, so that took a lot of the wondering out of the equation. Speaking of which, though, how exactly did you beat him? We found his cane in the wreckage of the airship, where we are now, but we had a…disagreement over what exactly must have gone down."

"I didn't…beat him, exactly." Ruby said as she scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "He kind of…got eaten by one of the Griffons as he was giving a monologue about survival and siding with whoever was likely to win. Then I kicked the Grimm into the control center of the ship and jumped off as it fell. Sorry, I know you kind of wanted a chance to get back for everything."

Frost scratched the back of his head a bit as he sheepishly replied. "It's…probably for the best that I didn't. I get less than pleasant thoughts about what I would have done to that man, so…probably good that I never got a chance to act on them."

"Good." Ruby replied simply from the other side of the device. "Oh, and…Neo?" At a nod from Neo, Ruby continued. "Keep an eye on this goof for the rest of us, would you? Considering how much he talked about you, you're the best person to keep him from getting in too deep even if any of us were there. You wouldn't believe how much he talked about you once we got him to open up!"

"Oh, really?" Neo replied with a smirk as she turned to look at Frost who was conveniently whistling and was avoiding looking at herself or the Scroll. "I'll keep that in mind. And Ruby?" Neo's face took on a gentler expression as she directed her focus back on the girl on the screen. "Thank you. For looking out for him while I was…indisposed. It means a lot."

"Don't mention it! Just make sure to brace yourself whenever we meet in person, cause I imagine a lot of hugs are gonna come your way to celebrate!"

Neo laughed lightly as Ruby bounced lightly from her side. "I'll keep that in mind Ruby."

"Oh! Ruby, hang on!" Frost quickly interjected even as the younger girl's hand neared the screen to deactivate the call. "I just gotta know, where are you guys at right now?"

"Oh, us?" Ruby stated with surprise. "We're heading the Haven over in Mistral to search for Cinder and the others. What about you guys? Should we wait for you to catch up?"

"Nah, it would take too long for that. You go on ahead. I've got a better idea for where we can go, anyways. Also, what do you know about modifying or combining weapons?" Frost finished with sincere curiosity, not aware of what he was about to unleash.

"Stuff about weapons?!" Ruby's eyes lit up at the question. "I hope you guys have something to write on, cause I know a bunch of stuff!"

Neo and Frost gave each other worried looks, which went unnoticed by the girl on the other side of the screen as she began going into detail.

EXTREME detail.

* * *

Emerald slowly returned to where the three of them had been as she took a few deep breaths, not anticipating the conversation they would likely have first thing. As she moved around a large pile of debris back into the clearing she heard the sound of a Scroll being disconnected from a call, her eyebrow raising in in confusion as she turned the corner.

"Sweet Oum, I thought she would never stop." Frost stated as he sat with his head between his hands, a far off look in his eyes.

"At least she gave us some ideas for what we can do with them. That's something at least." Neo replied as she held Melodic Cudgel and her parasol side-by-side.

"Did I…miss something?" Emerald stated with unease as she looked at the two sitting next to each other amidst the debris.

"Nothing that wouldn't have bored you to unconsciousness, so you're good." Neo stated with a small smile.

Frost and Emerald both gave each other silent and uneasy glances as they both were torn as to whether or not they'd speak first. It was Frost that ended up breaking the silence prematurely.

"Look, Emerald…I'm sorry. The way I got worked up like that wasn't completely fair. Tensions have been high lately, and I guess I let it get to me…again." He stated as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with one hand.

"You're not the only one that needed to apologize. I'm still getting used to actually talking to people with sincerity, so I'm still learning when too far is…too far."

Neo clapped her hands with a smile on her face as the two shook hands in agreement. "Great! Now that everything's good, we can head out!"

Emerald turned a confused look to the two of them as she pulled a piece of scrap from her back pocket. "How exactly are we supposed to do that without any more leads? I found the Scroll back in the wreckage while I was gone but it and the console are toast."

"We were just finishing talking to Ruby as you showed up, and she said that they're already heading to Haven in Mistral so that leaves us with only one option to take care of. Atlas." Frost stated with a matter of fact look on his face.

"Okay. Why?" Emerald asked with a continued look of confusion.

"Because we know Blake is in hiding, likely in Mistral or Menagerie, so Ruby and the other are sooner likely to run into her than us. Since we've already looked into Yang over in Patch, which only leaves Weiss in Atlas to check in on."

"And you didn't call her, because…?" Emerald asked.

"Atlas designed the CCT remember? So what are the odds that the head of the Schnee Dust Company put something in place to monitor the heiress' calls that aren't preprogrammed as okay?"

"Fair point. Guess it's off to Atlas then."

The three of them all turned as they all started walking off in the direction of Atlas, their destination now clearly set in their minds. Each of them had different concerns about the coming days as they all would struggle against new foes, new challenges, and new encounters. But that would simply be a part of the journey that they were now a part of. This was their life now.

The life…of a Hunstman.


	8. Chapter 8

**First off, major apologies for how long this update took to get out. Part of it I can blame on running into a little bout of writer's block and being unsure of how to start the bridge to the second arc of the story. That and a fair amount of procrastination.**

 **And a mix of some WoW Legion, the new Pokemon, and just all around laziness on my part. Won't happen though, promise. What I may have to do however at least for a month or two is extend my two week timeframe I set previously to a three week frame for updates. Working retail this time of year in an electronics store can get really tiring, really fast. Plus our manager is having a kid soon too so he'll need to take some time off to spend time with the kid for a couple weeks or so.**

 **All that aside, here's the newest installment to The Fragments of Remnant.**

* * *

"So…let me get this straight," Frost started as he rested his palms against the table in the center of the room. "The two of you are proposing that we somehow sneak all three of us aboard a ship going to Atlas, gain access to an unoccupied room to let us rest during the trip, and then sneak off the boat when we reach land. All without being spotted or caught in any way?" His body jerked upwards and away from the table as he threw his arms into the air out of frustration, a few loose papers flying off the table's surface from the light breeze generated from his sudden movement. "That's it. We're officially desperate."

"Oh, stop being so dramatic Frost." Neo said with an optimistic smile. "Between my teleportation, Emerald's deception, and a combined effort on disguises and illusions we'll be aboard that boat with no difficulty." Neo walked a short distance away from the table before her Semblance flashed into existence, her previous appearance replaced with an outfit similar to that of a boat's crew as well as shoulder length auburn hair and green eyes to hide her regular styles.

Frost's eyebrow rose in a halfway cross of bemusement and boredom, "Congratulations for you, we have one of three disguises taken care of now. What's the plan exactly for retrieving disguises for the rest of us, hmm?" His foot tapped lightly against the floor of their room as he patiently leaned against the wall, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he awaited a response.

"No one said that it would be all three of us infiltrating the crew, dimwit." Emerald stated from another part of the room as she reclined on a couch. "Neo's job is to get them to bring aboard some last minute cargo that will actually be a crate the two of us will hide in. Then once it gets late and everyone is asleep, Neo will let us out and then we'll spend the rest of the trip in the crew quarters that Neo will get until we get near Atlas and get back in the box before everyone wakes up and get lifted onto the docks."

Frost's eyebrow nearly disappeared into his hairline as it rose even further in question. "So you're saying that the two of us," Frost stated as he pointed back and forth between himself and Emerald, "Will be crammed into a box, most likely uncomfortably I might add, and stay that way until Neo can get to us? And what happens if she doesn't get that chance due to unforeseen circumstances?"

"Then we'll be stuck inside a box for a day or two until we reach Atlas and can get out." Emerald shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time one of us had to squeeze into tight quarters to get somewhere."

"Maybe for you Em," Neo replied as she sheepishly pushed her index fingers together. "But I did forget something when the two of us were coming up with our plan." Both Frost and Emerald turned to face Neo, one with a knowing look and a smirk while the other bore a look of mild confusion. "Frost…doesn't do well with tight spaces for extended periods of time. I wouldn't exactly call it claustrophobia, but we learned a long time ago that if Frost gets left inside a small space without any windows or anything for any decent length of time it ends rather…explosively."

"Oh, well that's great then." Emerald stated with an exasperated tone as she was the one to throw her arms in the air out of frustration this time. "So our original plan is a bust, and we can't switch places at all since Frost can't disguise himself as a crew member while the two of us fit into a crate." Frost gained a thoughtful look as Neo and Emerald vented in different manners- basically Emerald walked around the room raving while Neo gained a grumpy pout as she stared into the map on the table that showed their route from Sanus to Solitas.

Frost's eyes lit up a short while later as an idea started to form in his mind. "What if we did try having me pose as a crew member, but for a boat that had its trip cancelled last minute, leaving me with cargo that needs to get back to Atlas as quickly as possible and asking around if anyone can manage one more crate on their load? It could work."

"That solves out issue with finding space in the crate, but how exactly are we supposed to get you a sailor's outfit and a convincing story to get the cargo aboard?" Neo asked while Emerald looked on out of curiosity.

"Oh, just leave that to me and my acting. I've got this." Frost said with a smug grin as the other two shrugged to each other, and other ideas not worth mentioning due to likelihood of success in comparison.

* * *

"How on earth did the two of you manage to screw this up so much?!" Frost yelled as the three of them fled security, yelled shouts to stop and be taken into custody falling onto deaf ears. "I had things handled with my story of needing to get to Atlas, so what the hell happened?!"

"We didn't expect the crate to jolt so sharply when they started hoisting it up to bring aboard the ship!" Emerald exclaimed as the three of them sprinted around a corner and quickly ducked into a dark alcove out of sight as they hushed their voices, the guards running by without even glancing into any side spaces as they turned the corner at the other end and kept going. " _I didn't exactly intend to go around groping Neo's chest while we were stuck in there!_ "

" _That's not what I'm talking about!_ " Frost snapped back as he turned to face Neo, who was currently trying her hardest to hide her still red face behind her long locks of hair, a timid look never before seen on her face as she took rapid breaths. " _Why the hell did you moan so loudly?_ _I get that…that area is sensitive and all, but seriously?! Way to ruin our plan Neo._ "

The three of them waited a short while to make sure the coast was clear before slipping out from the alcove and started making their way back to the streets of Vale to rethink how they were going to reach Atlas and get to Weiss and Ironwood to find out how to proceed. As they turned to leave the alleyway however, a burly man with massive arms and a grizzled beard stepped in front of them with a questioning look on his face. As the three of them quickly reached for their weapons, the man gestured to them to be silent as he quickly ushered them back into the alcove they had just departed from.

"So I hear the three of you need passage to Atlas rather urgently." The man stated almost immediately as they finished piling into the hidden space. His burly arms crossed in front of his chest as he regarded the three teens in front of him. "How urgently are we talking, here?"

"Wait, wait." Frost stated as he shook his hands in front of his face to attempt to slow things down a bit. "Back up a second, how do you even know that?"

"Overheard the commotion from my ship a couple moorings down from the one you were trying to get aboard as the crate got busted open and your friends tumbled out. Pretty much all of us tend to know where the other was going, and I had just been sharing drinks with some of the crew of that ship when they mentioned that they were heading to Atlas and wondered about grabbing a drink once we were grounded over there as well. That answer your question?"

"Yeah, I guess that works. Didn't think we were being that loud though." Frost stated with a slightly caught off guard expression at the man's bluntness.

"Oh it wasn't you." The man stated with a throaty chuckle. "It was the little one. I haven't heard girls moan that loud since the last time I visited a nightclub one time in Mistral. She's got quite the pipes on her." The three of them all blushed in varying degrees, but none moreso than Neo as her hair almost seemed to grow longer on its own to hide Neo more as she mumbled something about getting killed now while she can still breath.

* * *

After the three of them- mostly Neo- were able to get their faces and breathing under control and explain their situation, without giving away too many names or plans, they silently followed the man to his ship as they all boarded and he explained the extra members to his crew. As it turns out, they had happened to come across the captain of the ship and so none on the ship appeared to have issue with a few extra passengers. A few crew members snickered or gave the three impressed looks after the captain finished telling what he had heard and seen, much to the continued embarrassment of the three before they were shown to their quarters and given a rough idea for the timeframe on their voyage.

The three of them slumped onto the bots that had been shifted into the room they had been assigned to as they all avoided eye contact before starting to turn in. A small amount of time passed in silence before a voice broke the silence in the room.

"For future reference, no more tight spaces in our plans if we can help it." Neo stated curtly as she shuffled to give a quick look to the other two who nodded in agreement.

Emerald paused for a few moments in thought before responding verbally as well. "Or at least if we do need to go with tight spaces, don't all cram into the same space. Unless we want to hear Neo moan again that is."

"Emerald!" Neo snapped as she bolted upright from her cot, her pillow sailing across the room to slam solidly into the green-haired girls face. Emerald laughed wholeheartedly despite the pillow wrapped around her face in enjoyment at Neo's embarrassment.

"Leave her alone Emerald. I think she's had to deal with enough." Frost stated plainly as he looked towards the ceiling of the room with his arms crossed behind his head. "Besides, next time she can just ask us to leave if she really needs privacy that badly."

"Et tu, Frost?! Honestly!" Neo exclaimed with a huff as she flipped around to avoid showing the two of them her beet red face. "Good night!"

It would be a while before the laughing between Frost and Emerald would die down, at least until a sharp rap came on their door telling them to quiet down before someone came in and shoved their own entrails down their throats. That graphic description very quickly ended any discussion as they all gently fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright, here is the next part in the story. I'm not completely satisfied with how all of how it turned out, but this chapter is necessary mostly for a few running details in this story. I hope that it's enough to sate everyone until the next update, and while we wait for the next episode to come this following Saturday for what I hope is an awesome fight sequence. Enjoy!**

* * *

Frost awoke with a groan as his eyes slowly flickered open. After everything that had occurred the last few days, having the chance to finally kick back for the trip to Atlas was a welcome relief. As he reached his arms up to stretch out his joints however he noticed that something seemed off. With that in mind he slowly get up so that he was propping his upper body up with his elbows, to which he immediately noticed what the problem was.

He was no longer on the ship.

Instead, he seemed to be in an open field, with a clear sky above and grassy plains as far as the eye could see. His head swiveled back and forth as he attempted to gather his bearings, but to no avail. There seemed to be no sign of Neo or Emerald, let alone anything to indicate how he had ended up in this place.

"Okay," Frost spoke to himself as he got up to his feet before starting to head in a random direction. "Either I got high as fuck last night and forgot about it, or Emerald is messing with my head big time as some sort of joke and any minute now I'm going to end up suddenly soaked and swimming in the ocean because I walked overboard." Frost paused for a moment as he considered the second option. "You know I would probably go overboard anyways if I was high, considering I don't have any clue what's actually in front of me. Guess I should be expecting to get soaked any moment now. Probably should be expecting a feeling of falling, too."

However, as time passed and Frost continued walking along, he noticed no sudden damp feeling or sense of falling, leading to him being even more confused as he continued along. As his mind continued to find ways to grasp what was going on, he noticed objects begin to rise up on the horizon as he seemed to approach something. It was with that in his current attention that Frost broke into a light jog so as to reach answers faster.

As he got closer and closer to the group of buildings, a pressure in the back of his head began to build up slightly, to the point that it was a dull throb every few seconds as he reached the outskirts of what appeared to be a rather homely looking village. Strangely enough however the village appeared to be empty even though the buildings showed no signs of wear or damage, as though the place had just simply been abandoned by its inhabitants for no clear reason and left to stand the test of time. What was even stranger was that there were no signs of overgrowth or wear on any buildings. This meant that either something strange was in effect in this village, or it had only recently been abandoned. After looking around for any tracks in the dirt however, it seemed that there hadn't been anyone around here for some time save for him. It was with that thought in the back of his head that Frost took a readied stance, noticing that he suddenly had his gauntlets and greaves suddenly on his person when he hadn't moments earlier.

"Okay." Frost spoke to himself as he raised his voice in his defensive stance. "I don't know what's going on here, but someone had better come out right now and explain what the hell is going on! I was on my way to Atlas on a ship a few hours ago, so why am I suddenly in the middle of nowhere in some ghost town?!"

Frost was met only with silence as he whirled around in an effort to try to spot anything out of the ordinary that could explain the situation. "Answer me!"

" _I don't think anyone's going to answer your question there, champ._ "

Frost whirled to face the direction that the voice had come from, only to see nothing in his immediate sight. He began to whirl back and forth, his paranoia now at its peak as he tried to keep a grip on his emotions and not resort to lashing out at the very sign of anything unclear. He needed answers more that he needed to get in a fight right now.

" _Aww, but where's the fun in that? I thought you liked getting into a scrap every now and then?_ "

Frost swung around with his hand out, hoping to grab onto something in case it was someone messing with him and always standing behind his back. He couldn't take any chances at this point as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise as his skin crawled with discomfort. However, he once again came up with nothing as he spun to meet only open air once more, his frustration mounting even further as he grated his teeth against one another.

"Alright, that's enough!" Frost shouted as he dropped his arms to his sides and closed his eyes in deep breaths to calm his emotions. His voice lowered to a regular speaking volume as he continued. "I don't know who you are, but clearly you know something about me. When I open my eyes, I want you to be standing in front of me so that we can talk rather than playing this pointless game anymore. On the count of three, I'm going to open my eyes and you'll be standing in front of me." Frost paused as he took a steadying breath, mentally preparing himself for anything at this point.

"1." A gust of wind blew by, lightly brushing his skin as it passed from behind him.

"2." His skin crawled as a chill sent goosebumps up his arms.

"3." Everything suddenly went silent as Frost slowly opened his eyes, immediately freezing in place out of shock at the sight in front of him.

" _Hey there, sport. Long time no see._ "

It was himself. A mirror image standing directly in front of him with a cocky smirk on its face as it leaned against the side of a well that lay in the centre of the village. However there was one problem, something that made the doppelganger slightly wrong aside from its overall appearance. It had pale, white skin with dark tendrils creeping up on the sides of his face, and appeared to be wearing no weapons unlike Frost. But that wasn't the most concerning part. What truly had Frost frozen was one thing in particular.

The black eyes with red irises that screamed death in Frost's mind as his headache came back full force.

* * *

Neo and Emerald were both taking a few deep breaths as they both stood leaning against the railings of the ship overlooking the ocean as they plowed along in the direction of Atlas. Every once in a while voices could be heard from the deck above as crew worked to keep everything in order while the passengers aboard enjoyed the peaceful day. After everything that happened, a brief respite was well received as the two wore calm smiles on their faces.

"You know, this is pretty nice." Emerald stated matter-of-factly as she took a deep breath of the sea air. "I haven't had a chance to just relax and not worry about the next heist or attack for some time now, so getting a chance to actually stretch my legs for once is kind of relaxing."

"Yes, well take advantage of it while you can." Neo stated as she got up from the railing and started walking along the decks with Emerald shortly behind with her arms behind her head in a stretch. "I can't imagine we'll get much of a break once we reach Atlas. Frost seemed pretty deadest on getting in touch with each of the girls from Beacon, and since the Schnee heiress was the only other one we knew exact location on, she's our best bet."

Emerald smirked from behind Neo. "Is it just me, or do I detect a hint of jealousy in that tone?"

Neo whirled to face Emerald with a raised eyebrow and questioning look as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Emerald, seriously. You've been like this for at least a day or two now. What has you saying stuff like this and trying to push my buttons when we're trying to give you a chance?"

Emerald scoffed at Neo's words before continuing past the girl without a hitch in her step. "Please. I know that Frost can be a bit of a dunce, but I know you're not that stupid. Every time you mention one of the girls from Beacon- minus Ruby- you get this slight hitch to your voice as though you don't like to talk about them. Why is that?"

"If you think I have a problem with those girls, then I think you need your eyes and ears checked. I don't have a problem with any of them in the slightest."

Emerald raised an eyebrow with skepticism as Neo tried to act tough in front of her. However, the act only lasted for so long before Neo sighed in defeat and stepped over to lean against the ship's railing once more.

"Fine. I have a problem. But it's not with them." Neo relented after a few moments of silence.

"Then why do you get so grouchy when they come up in conversation?" Emerald asked as she leaned her back against the railing awaiting Neo's response.

"…Because they were there for him when I wasn't able to." Neo whispered just loud enough for Emerald to hear as she continued. "Frost had to deal with having to leave me behind because of the situation that happened back in the old warehouse. He was forced to handle things on his own when the two of us had each other's backs for years until I started doing more individual assignments for Torchwick at Cinder's orders. I couldn't even tell him what was going on because of the tracker that was in my Scroll that allowed Cinder to monitor whatever I told him due to my voice not being healed yet at the time. I was forced to leave him in the dark and wander as he tried to solve things on his own. And I hated myself for it."

Emerald's eyes fell to the ground slightly, as at the time she had been some of the direct opposition to Frost when he had enacted his escape plan and they had gotten in his path and effectively forced him to leave without Neo like he had intended. "Neo, I'm sorry. I know that I can't take back what I've done, but I never knew things were like that."

"I don't blame you, Emerald. At the time we both saw each other as accomplices and nothing more. We didn't know anything about you wanting to leave, and you didn't know about our separate plans that we were enacting to try and foil Cinder. I guess we all screwed up, myself most of all."

"Ok, seriously, stop that." Emerald stated with a sharp tone as Neo looked at her with surprise written on her face. "None of us is completely blameless here. But neither are any of us more at fault than another. We all made our fair share of mistakes, and now we're trying our best to fix them. If it hadn't been for what had happened, could you say that any of us could even be alive or free of Cinder's plans now? Frost would have been dead within weeks had he stayed due to his ineffectiveness in the face of the plans Cinder wanted to use. She would have had one of us take him down as a message at some point regardless. If you had escaped with him, would the two of you have been able to stop Cinder with that book alone? If he couldn't do it by himself with all of the proof he had, I doubt a second person would have helped, especially since at the time you would have been recognized by someone both from the street fight and the train encounter. I could have tried to stop Cinder or just plain left, but I was too afraid to try anything. Besides, him getting to know them helped him anyways, even if it wasn't you that did it. By now it's obvious that you two care a lot about each other, maybe even more than you realize."

Neo lowered her head in defeat. "I know. And I wish I could take away the feelings of uselessness and fear that came with all of that, but I can't. Besides," Emerald looked over and her eyes widened at the sight of tears falling from Neo's eyes as she looked over the sea. "You were right, anyways. I am jealous of them- even Ruby to a lesser extent. The other three are these incredibly attractive girls that each have their own strengths that I could never hope to have. One's a bombshell with the same type of humor as him from what I've seen speaking with her. Another is a heiress, never stopping to let anyone tell her what to do, not even her own family. And another is an ex-White Fang member trying to find a balance of equality for everyone. What am I compared to all of that? I'm just some girl that he knew growing up in the orphanage that happened to be from the same village that got destroyed when we were kids. I'm not even family to him."

"Okay, you know what? Enough of this." Emerald said as Neo felt a rough tug on the back of her jacket. "I'm tired of hearing this pity party when we can solve this in five seconds. We're going to sit the two of you down so you can talk things out. Period."

"Emerald wait!" Neo exclaimed as she managed to squirm out of the jacket, the sudden breeze on her exposed shoulders making her shiver somewhat from the cool ocean air. "Please don't do this. Not right now. I understand that we need to sit down and talk about things at some point over everything that's happened. But right now is a bad time. I can't go to him with my small problems when the whole world is at stake. I'll talk to him when the time is right, and no later. Okay?"

Emerald clenched her hand that wasn't holding Neo's coat into a fist as she took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll give you this one chance. But if that time comes and you chicken out I will tell him myself what you told me. You can't expect me to accept your help and not try to offer some of my own at some point. Got it?"

"Agreed."

Suddenly, the two of them heard a sharp thud come from their bunks down the corridor as they both turned to face the noise.

"Well, seems like Sleeping Beauty finally woke up. Wanna go see what kind of mess he's gotten himself into?" Emerald said with a grin.

"You just want a chance to get an embarrassing photo on your Scroll in case he's wrapped up in bedsheets.

"Damn straight, I do."

* * *

Frost took deep, rasping breaths as he held both hands against his head, the throbbing from his dream still present in the back of head, and the image of his alternate self still implanted fresh in his mind. As he tried to get a grip on his breathing and emotions while he lay in the fetal position on the floor beside the bed, the door to the room slid open as Neo and Emerald entered. At the sight of Frost curled up in pain however, any calmness on their faces was destroyed as Neo immediately knelt down to see if Frost was okay.

Frost slowly cracked his eyes open as he felt a warm hand on his arm, his body slowly turning to face the other presence in the room, only for the feeling to disappear as his eyes opened fully with a gasp. He blearily blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision, only to find that part of his sight seemed to stay blurry rather than clear up as usual. He frowned as he got up and started to stand; only now noticing Neo and Emerald in the room with Neo crying openly into Emerald's arms that looked on with worry between the two of them.

"Hey, you guys." Frost started slowly as he stretched his back with a groan. "Is…everything okay? What happened while I was out?"

Emerald looked down to Neo as she guided the girl to one of the other beds before guiding her to a sitting position slowly before pulling out her Scroll and looking at it for a moment. "You…might want to see this." She then turned on the personal camera of the Scroll before turning it over and passing it to Frost for him to look at the screen, only for him to drop it moments with a yell as he backed into the far wall with a rush. By accident, he had activated the camera in his shock, capturing an image of the last thing seen as he dropped it.

His face- with his left eye black with a red iris. Just like in the dream.


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright, so this time I was able to get an update out a little sooner than normal, mostly due to have a day off prior to Christmas and the sheer amount of business that I'm going to have to deal with working Christmas Eve and Boxing Day in retail. That'll be fun /sarcasm.**

 **Anyways, I know that this isn't exactly a feel good chapter or anything considering the time of year we're in, but not everything is sunshine and daisies when things are going on. Not to mention that the show itself is on a weird tipping point for tomorrow's episode right now. Needless to say I'm a little worried for some characters right now. Doesn't bode too well necessarily.**

 **Regardless, here is the next installment of The Fragments of Remnant. Leave any comments or thoughts after the break or just a general view on your thoughts so far if you feel so inclined. Merry Christmas everyone.**

* * *

The majority of the boat ride for the rest of the trip to Atlas was relatively silent. After the assorted reactions to Frost's eye in their cabin, the three of them had avoided conversation with one another due to the lack of understanding of the situation in general. Emerald had never experienced the same thing that the other two had due to not being laced with the drug, and Neo had been rid of the Grimm DNA altogether through Frost's intervention. Thus, when questioned how he still had traces of it in his system, Frost had snapped back at the two of them stating that he had no idea either why it was happening. Realizing how he had reacted to the two of them- and the fact that his emotions seemed to be more out of line than usual- he had taken to isolating himself on a different part of the decks, constantly avoiding the other two any time they tried to talk to him to either calm him down or try to apologize. It wasn't because he didn't want their apology, however.

It was because he believed that it wasn't necessary.

They had nothing to do him being drugged, or the resurgence of it in his system. His first thought was that he may have been drugged in secret at some point, but if that were the case then Emerald and Neo would have likely been dosed as well given the fact that he hadn't been in a situation that he could recall being alone and vulnerable to anyone under Cinder's orders. That meant that his Semblance hadn't been blocking it like he had hoped- or at the very least not as much as it should. But why was it happening now all of a sudden? What had changed that caused it to return after being gone for so long? These questions constantly bounced through his mind over the course of the trip, in the hopes that he could come to a solution while he took time to himself.

Unfortunately, it never did.

* * *

Neo was devastated. The friend she had grown up with was suddenly avoiding her whenever she tried to approach him with nothing but a sad face. Each time she tried to follow, he would simply stay out of her way or move around her, even when she tried to teleport in front of him to block his way. And when he couldn't walk around, he would simply turn around and walked back in the opposite direction. Emerald had even volunteered to bock his path if he did decide to turn around in any of those cases but Neo refused, knowing that forcing a confrontation like that would only make things worse than they already were.

However the pain she felt wasn't simply because of the fact that Frost was avoiding them. It was also due to the familiarity she had with the eye she had seen on Frost on the first day aboard the ship. Every time she saw it again in her mind, she would start to break out in a sweat and look about fearfully, as though something were about to attack her from a random corner of the ship or a stray shadow in the corner of a room. After all, the last time she had been face-to-face with one, she had nearly lost her life in the ensuing struggle.

And so because of that, Neo ended up giving up trying to follow Frost after the second day, instead silently awaiting their arrival in Atlas with a prayer that they could find some answer or solution to their current problem on top of everything else.

* * *

A few days later when they landed in port, the three of them silently took to walking down the streets of the city, looking for a place to find a map that could lead them towards the capital of the kingdom in the hopes of finding Weiss and General Ironwood to find out all that they could. After finding said map and stopping somewhere to grab some food, the three of them set to finding their best route to the capital amongst their meal.

"We should probably stick to the roads for the most part of our trip; we'd be less likely to get lost as well as possibly getting an alternate mode of transportation if we follow the most common route." Frost stated as he pointed at the roads on the map that led through the assorted mountains and forests that layered Solitas.

"Bad idea," Emerald stated as she shook her head in disagreement. "If Cinder has the White Fang in Vale under orders, then she's bound to have people under her command in the other kingdoms as well. We can't risk being out in the open so much; we're bound to be recognized that way."

"So what should we do then?" Neo asked with curiosity as she and Frost turned to Emerald with questioning looks on their faces. "You worked with her the longest, so where are we more likely to stay hidden?"

Emerald took a pen and marked a route heading through mostly forests, occasionally stopping at small villages along the way rather than larger settlements on the way to the capital. "We'll still need to take breaks and rest every now and then, but if we can keep to the woods and hills more than not only can we stay out of sight more, but we'll still be safe from the Grimm since Solitas naturally repels them due to the geography."

Frost nodded his head once as he leaned back in his chair with a smirk. "Guess you've got more than just brains for pickpocketing, huh? Didn't know you were such a map connoisseur."

"Well it helps to know the most inconspicuous routes when you're trying to avoid people and getting caught, I learned that before I even met Cinder when I was still getting used to my own talents." Emerald stated proudly as she crossed her arms over her chest with pride.

The three of them were still awkward around each other when certain topics of conversations came up, however that didn't mean they couldn't talk to each other at all. It just didn't result in the same conversations being said sometimes. That being said, there was still some slight tension between the three of them that they attempted to counter through sass directed at one another. Though sometimes that did backfire if something was said by accident.

"Besides, I think the only Grimm we've gotta worry about is Captain Red-Eye over here and his grim jokes." Emerald stated before her eyes widened in shock, her hand quickly moving to slap over her mouth in surprise.

Frost's demeanor darkened somewhat as he got up from the table to silently march out of the building with a noticeable tension in his shoulders. Neo gave Emerald a nasty glare as the green-haired girl tried to apologize for what she had said accidentally, reverting back to old habits when she used to talk with Mercury on jobs. She quietly grumbled under her breath about how this was harder than she thought as she rushed to catch up with Neo, who had immediately set off to follow Frost after giving Emerald the her look. She eventually caught up to the two of them, only to see Frost shoving Neo's hand aside with a shrug oh his arm before turning to yell at her.

"I'm not a broken toy, Neo! You can't fix me by putting some glue and duct tape on the hinge and calling it done! I know I shouldn't have walked off like that, but did you ever think that maybe Emerald's more right than you think?!"

She quickly stopped in her approach as she overheard his words before he turned around and started moving at a faster pace down the road. As she neared Neo to try to apologize once again however, a figure quickly grabbed onto Frost as he passed a nearby alleyway, his body lurching to the side as he was tugged into the shadows. She fastened her own pace as she tapped Neo's shoulder to follow before turning into the alleyway she had seen Frost get pulled as she drew her weapons in their gun forms. Neo arrived moments later, her parasol drawn with the blade extended as they both took up a fighting stance. The two of them slowly made their way down the dark passage, their eyes flitting back and forth for any signs of a struggle or a path that they could follow in the hopes of getting to Frost and his assailant.

The two of them were immediately caught by surprise when they each felt a hand roughly grab them by the shoulder before they were tugged through the back door of an older looking building. As they both prepared to yell for help, the hands that were on their shoulders quickly shifted to their mouths as a grizzly voice came from just behind them.

"For a group of kids trying to act all stealthy and conspicuous on their journey, you three are pretty frigging lousy at it. Especially you green bean."

The two of them whirled about with their weapons up, only for Neo to lower her weapon and Emerald to raise hers further at the sight of the person in front of them. Qrow Branwen, with Frost sitting on an abandoned chair nearby with a less than pleased look on his face. Neo gave the alcoholic a confused look as she set the parasol against a nearby table before sitting at another chair in the room calmly, though her eyes did flash in Frost's direction for a brief moment before she turned back to Qrow with a question on her lips.

"Qrow? What are you doing in Atlas?" She asked as she stated aloud the thoughts the other two also were having at the same time.

"Doing some recon of my own while Cinder is in hiding, obviously. Though I should be asking the three of you the same question. Though I'll leave that to follow a couple of others." The man stated as he took a quick chug from his flask with a sigh. "Namely, why is the pickpocket travelling with the two of you," Qrow stated as he gestured his flask in Emerald's direction, "and why is Frosty here sporting a new eye and a darker expression than my sister whenever I run into her?"

Emerald raised her weapons in self-defense as she replied to Qrow's first question. "I don't need to explain myself to you, old man. Mind your own business."

Qrow shook his head as he calmly started walking in Emerald's direction, having moved to the opposite wall after making his initial comment to the group. "Oh, but I think it is my business. Considering you're one of the ones responsible for attacking the Fall Maiden, helping in the fall of Beacon and Ozpin's disappearance, and more importantly…" Qrow's arm moved so fast the three of them nearly thought they imagined it at his side moments ago, his sword suddenly drawn and pointed directly at Emerald's chest. "Framing my niece for attacking your accomplice in the tournament. So. Lower. Your. Weapons."

Emerald shook with fear as she immediately released her grip on her weapons, their metal bodies making a noisy thud as they landed on the wood flooring of the room. Her arms then raised in a helpless stance next to her head as Qrow stood unflinching in front of her. As she did that, he just as calmly returned his sword to his back as he returned to his position against the wall.

"Now, let's try that again. Before I decide to send you all back to Vale where you won't get caught by someone else working with the enemy."

Neo took a deep breath before she began to speak from her end of the room, Emerald shakily moving to take a seat of her own, though without ever taking her eyes off of Qrow's form where he stood nonchalantly.

"Frost decided after you had paid us that quick visit in the clinic that we needed to talk to try and gather up or at least talk to the rest of Ruby's team before we made any more moves of our own to try and stop Cinder after everything she had done. We stopped Patch first to visit Yang since she was closest, hoping to also speak to you and Ruby as well when we arrived, but the two of you were both gone on whatever travels you had already planned. We thought at first you may have taken her with you, but Yang and Ruby's dad stated that she had left on her own with some of her other friends from school. We got in touch with them after returning to Vale ad found out it was the rest of Team JNPR that she was travelling with when we also ran into Emerald. She had originally helped us escape Cinder and Mercury atop the roofs of the city before you found the two of us amongst the debris, and wanted to try and make amends for everything she had helped to cause. From there we decided to come to Atlas next to find Weiss and General Ironwood to find any leads that we could, since no one knows where Ruby's last teammate Blake went off to."

"The faunus girl?" Qrow asked with a raised eyebrow. "Probably back to Menagerie honestly since that's where her family is. Considering she's the daughter of the chieftain there, it's a considerably safer place to hide at the moment. As for the Schnee princess and the General, I doubt the three of you are going to have much luck getting to either of them with the state the capital is in right now. I was only just returning from there myself, so I doubt you'll find quite what you like when you get there. All the power to you though. As for my other question…" Qrow stated as all eyes turned to face Frost, his expression and stance in his chair having not changed for the entirety of the conversation. "What's your problem, sparky? Didn't get enough sleep last night? Bang your head on a board getting freshened up? I'm all ears."

Frost scoffed as he sat back with his arms crossed over his chest. "Don't see what the point is in explaining, you already know full well what it is."

Qrow shrugged his shoulders from his own position on the wall. "Oh, I've got some suspicions, but I want to hear you enlighten me."

Frost and Qrow simply stared at each other for a while, neither talking while Emerald and Neo both nervously looked on. Eventually, it seemed like nothing else would be said before Frost's head slumped forward in defeat as he gave out a deep sigh.

"It's the drug. It made a reappearance. None of us can figure out how or why, but it did. Makes me a great party guest now, huh?" Frost gave a dry laugh at his sad attempt at a joke, Qrow's expression softening somewhat as he walked over to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Look kid. I can't begin to imagine what you're going through. I can only guess based on what I remember from the last time this thing popped up before the whole project was shut down. We thought that would be the end of it, and then it came back in the case of you two and Torchwick. Then we found out that you had somehow flushed it out of her system and we figured that meant you had erased it from your own as well. Turns out we were wrong on all accounts. But the fact that you haven't turned into a raving psychopath on a blood hunt yet is a good sign. If you ask me, since the three of you are heading to Atlas already, you might be able to find some files about the original case if you ask nicely- it's possible that somewhere in there they may have come across a potential cure, even if all the victims had already died, just in case it ever did come back for some reason."

The rest of the room was silent for a little while as the three of them all thought to themselves. After a little bit, Frost looked up to Qrow with a lightened expression on his face as he gave the man a brief thank you, to which he responded with a nod.

"Well, I think that takes care of everything here. I'll leave the three of you to your own plans, but not without one piece of advice."

The three other occupants of the room all turned to face Qrow as he stood amongst the doorway to the building, his back turned to them.

"I can't tell what the three of you are at odds about. I was never in the same place as you, even if I had to deal with my own share of conflict back in my day. But I will say this: trust each other. You're only as good as the team that backs you up, so you need to help each other out when the other is down or you'll all fall one way or another. Think about that."

And with that, he left the three of them in silence as they all pondered on his parting words.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the somewhat extended delay on this chapter folks, I was just having a hard time deciding if I wanted to have this chapter be on the more emotional side, or instead have some team bonding and some humor. I chose the former since both the show and this story have been a bit darker more recently, so I wanted to change gears a bit. Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

The three of them all sat awkwardly about the room after Qrow left, none of them sure about wanting to speak first after recent events and try to reconcile. It ended up being Emerald that spoke first to break the stale air around them.

"Well, you both heard what the drunk said. Work like a team and all that touchy feely junk. Let's just put what we've said to each other recently behind us and just finish what we started out on, huh?" Neo and Frost both just stared at Emerald for a few moments with blank expressions before turning to look at each other with the same expressions. "Well? Come on already, this silence is killing me here."

Frost's head tilted forward slightly so that he would be facing the floor but the others would still be able to see his face for a few seconds until he closed his eyes as a small smirk appeared on his face. A light scoffing sound came from his throat as he got up from his seat with a stretch. Neo's expression lightened as well at seeing a genuinely peaceful emotion on Frost's face for the first time in days, the time the two of them spent growing up together having taught Neo what was a fake expression and what wasn't when it came to dealing with Frost.

"Well Neo, you heard the lady. Let's get our butts moving." Frost started waking in the direction of the open doorframe, but not without stopping next to Emerald as he rested a hand on her shoulder. "And Emerald...thanks. For being the one to finally say something there. I don't know if I was going to be able to after a bit."

As Frost placed both hands into his jacket pockets and stepped outside the doorway Neo also got up and started walking towards the open doorframe with a happy nod to Emerald, the latter of which was still standing in surprise in the same position she had been when Frost had thanked her. The green-haired girl shook her head to snap back to reality as Neo also exited the building. Emerald shook her head as she started mumbling to herself as she also turned to leave.

"This whole friend's thing is going to take more time than I thought. These two are starting to make my head hurt with how often this happens. I hope it's not like this with everyone when I try to ask for forgiveness."

"Oh trust me…it's gonna get worse before it gets better." Frost's voice came from behind Emerald as she turned to leave the alleyway, causing her to whirl around with her weapons drawn with an awkward squawk of surprise. The white-haired boy had a shit-eating grin plastered across his face at present. "There's still the matter of both Team RWBY and Team JNPR, remember? They won't get the same kind of "bonding" experience with you that Neo and I will."

Neo gave an apologetic look from beside the boy, having been silent up until this point when Emerald had whirled about. "Sorry Emerald, he'll get like this sometimes with people he starts to get comfortable around. Now you'll have to start worrying about when he starts whirling his horrendous jokes around. If it's any consolation, I'll likely be in the same boat as you when we run into the others whenever we catch up to them."

"Did Yang try to punch your head clean off of your shoulders when you first met peacefully, then?" Emerald stated with a raised brow as she put away her weapons, the shock of Frost's voice coming from right behind her having worn off.

Neo gave an awkward smile as she was caught red-handed. "Well…not really, no. But she was still hesitant to trust me at first despite that when I admitted that most of my actions were actually in my control despite the original story painted from what Frost had told them based on what he had seen in Torchwick's notes."

"Then I'm still screwed." Emerald stated matter-of-factly as she leaned sideways against part of the building. "Oh well, gotta face the music eventually…just wish it wasn't gonna be with the Ice Queen first."

"Would you rather it be Ruby, considering the hand you played in killing Penny? Just saying, it could be worse. Just because that girl is all sunshine and rainbows on the outside doesn't mean she can't be ruthless when she wants to. I'd almost be more careful with that meeting than anything else. Yang will probably have a mental standoff with her intimidation, and Blake will likely share some sympathy since she used to be a member of the White…Fang…" Frost's face fell as he realized that he had just told Neo and Emerald something they had not likely been privy to before given how it hadn't been relevant.

"WHAT?!" Both girls snapped as Frost whirled on the defensive with the two now slowly bearing down on him with shocked looks to share.

"Nope, said too much already. That wasn't supposed to come out. Forget the ramblings of a crazy guy you just heard. All heresy and propaganda." Frost waved both hands in front of his face even as the two continued to slowly stalk towards him. Eventually he felt a rough surface as he backed into the end of the alleyway, the two girls both now wearing predatory expressions as they both turned to face the other.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, dear Emerald?" Neo asked with a disturbingly sweet voice as she smiled at the green-haired girl next to her.

"Not sure, what's on your mind, pint-sized?" Frost snorted lightly at this but was immediately silenced by both girls giving him a sharp glare the moment the sound came out.

"I'll ignore that for now given the circumstances, but I was thinking that we should try a little team bodning exercise with Frost here in case he's holding out on any other information on us about our supposed allies that we'll be recruiting and maybe share some info about ourselves at the same time."

"Oh, I do like that idea. We should absolutely try it out. Thoughts as to where?"

"Maybe a bit of a ways outside of town, maybe a bit closer to some frozen lakes in case we need to try and use some extra encouragement?"

"Yeah, that oughta do."

Frost winced as he heard the part about frozen lakes as the two each grabbed one of his arms, silently encouraging him to come along as they headed out for their "team bonding" as he silently dreaded what was to come.

* * *

Frost stood in a moderately open clearing on the edge of some forested area outside of the town they had just been in, his body in a fighting stance as his eyes flitted from side to side in anticipation of something to come. Moments later, his body snapped forwards as he felt a moderate force push on his back, throwing him off balance even as he heard the telltale tinkle of Neo's teleportation. His eyes darted to the right as he saw signs of a disturbance in the snow, his body whirling to block what he expected to be a direct attack from Emerald, only to once again feel a weight pushed into his back followed by a quick shuffling of boots on snow as Emerald also disengaged.

"Oh come on, you two. We've been doing this for like half-an-hour now! I already explained to you two, the thing about Blake being an ex-White Fang was the only thing I held back, honest!" Frost snapped as he continued to spin back and forth, unable to predict either of their attacks patterns giving the Semblances the two of them had at their disposal.

"Oh we believe you, Cobalt!" Neo's voice came from multiple directions at once- likely through use of her doppelgangers. "I just realized that this is a lot more fun than I originally thought! Plus, I haven't heard Emerald say she wants to stop yet."

"Finally getting the chance to knock around this guy after all the wisecracks and snark he made when I was still getting bossed around by Cinder? I've been waiting a long time for this moment, no way am I cutting it short yet." Emerald's voice came from Frost's right, to which he responded by pushing out a small spurt of force from both fists in the hopes that it would catch her in his wild aim. Unfortunately, between his lack of precise direction and Neo being Emerald's support, the shot was nowhere close to hitting her before she was in another part of the woods altogether.

"Can we at least take a brief break then so I can catch my breath? I can't keep this up much longer without suffering Aura depletion." Frost groaned out as he saw the shot fly off endlessly and knock snow off of a pair of trees that it eventually collided with.

"Oh, fine. Be a spoilsport." Emerald faux-complained as she strolled out from behind a large snowdrift that had been created when Frost had knocked snow off of a particularly large tree. Neo casually walked out of the tree line herself as they all moved over to the packs that they had set to the side for when they were finished, which contained any supplies they may need on their way to the Atlas capital.

"Thank you…" Frost groaned out as he not so gracefully fell onto his rear next to his own pack as he fished out a couple of food bars and scarfed them down with a large drink of ice-cold water to wash it down. He then leaned backwards with his armored hands resting in the snow as he propped himself up.

Emerald noticed this and frowned somewhat when she saw that his hands were buried to his wrists and yet he didn't seem at all bothered by this. "Isn't that cold on your hands? Even a little bit painful?"

"Hmm? Oh what, this?" Frost asked as he tilted his head to gesture to the way he was sitting in the snow.

"Frost was never one to really be bothered by the cold for a long time. Just his hot-blooded personality I guess." Neo stated simply as she sat atop a cleared tree stump with a cloak wrapped around her shoulders as she nursed some of her own canteen of water lightly.

"Weird." Emerald said simply as she walked over to her own pack and removed her own cloak from her pack before draping over her shoulders. "I'm already feeling the cold after stopping moving, so that's just not fair."

"Take what you can get Em, you couldn't handle my lifestyle if you tried." Frost stated with a smug look as he got up and stretched his muscles post-workout.

"Yeah, because I definitely want a life devoted to bad jokes and a predictable as heck fighting style." Emerald jokingly stated.

"Hey, if you want me to pick things up I can start using my Semblance more on the offensive than defensively."

"Yeah, no. We don't need you suddenly electrocuting things and started a forest fire for miles on Atlas soil." Neo piped up sharply with a lightly scolding tone.

"Ok, mom." Frost started as he shook his head with a smirk. "Anyways, how long do we wanna wait before getting to round two, since I know neither of you is done with just one go of this, much as I hate it being the target."

"Oh, I was thinking for another 10-15 minutes until-" Neo's words were very sharply cut off by the sounds of growling coming from nearby and the sound of piles of snow and shrubbery being crushed rapidly underfoot.

"Gotta cut things short after all it seems," Emerald stated as she threw off her cloak in the direction of her pack as she unsheathed her weapons and shifted them into their gun forms. "We've got Grimm!"

"They must have heard out talking and sparring once they got closer to here. I thought Atlas didn't have much in the way of Grimm because of the cold and terrain!" Frost shouted as he double checked the fastenings on his gauntlets before unleashes a few small bursts of energy in the direction of the rustling, the sounds of impact shortly following as a few Grimm were silenced by the initial salvo.

"It's why people settled here, yes, but nowhere is completely immune to Grimm, especially after the Great War covered so much of Remnant!" Neo stated from behind them as she rummaged through her own pack for something while the other two stood defensively. As she did so, she mumbled angrily to herself, "Ugh, where is it in this mess?"

"Anytime now would be great Neo! The three of us against them oughta go a bit better than just two!" Frost yelled as the beasts emerged from the tree-line, a pack of over a dozen Beowolves leaping across the icy plain.

"In a minute! I just need to find it first!"

"Find what? Your parasol has been out this whole time, what could you possibly want to… Oh…" Frost stated as a look of realization dawned on his face as he turned to face the pack of Grimm. "Emerald, we need to buy Neo some time, do you trust me?"

"Why, what's she doing?"

"Something poorly timed, but it'll work out in the end, we just need to stall for it to work. Again, do you trust me?"

Emerald look back to Neo as she continued to rummage through the pack pulling out different mechanical parts before setting them aside to retrieve more from the bag before opening a separate pocket to remove some sealed Dust crystals. "I don't know what she's doing exactly, but if you're sure it'll work, then fine! What do you need me to do?"

"I'm going to make a smokescreen by punching at some of the larger snow drifts between us and them, I need you to make it look like we moved out on top of the lake in that time by using your Semblance the moment the snow starts to settle!"

"On that many things at once?! Neo can back me up on this, but I barely was able to trick those two paramedics into thinking that Mercury's leg was actually broken and even then I got a migraine! What the hell?!"

"They're minds are a lot more simple than a human's or a Faunus. Just put the image of us over on the lake and block us out here. Just an image is fine, we won't need sound or anything!"

"That'll make it easier, but no promises!" Emerald yelled back as Frost's arms both started to glow, his arms then swinging forward moments later to unleash bursts of force into the snow, thus causing the large snow-screen that he had intended. Emerald then stared unblinking in the direction of the snow, waiting for the moment that it started to settle and show shapes on the other side of the snow. The moment she started to make out fuzzy outlines, she triggered her Semblance exactly as Frost directed, the shapes in the snow that were the Grimm slowing for a moment before shifting and rushing in the direction of the lake, bursting from the cloud of snow moments later as they continued lumbering towards the centre of the frozen water body.

A few moments passed with Neo sifting through her pack for the last few pieces she needed, and Frost and Emerald watching with bated breath as the Grimm leapt at the point in the lake that Emerald had manifested the fake image of them, only for her to collapse with a yelp as her hands flew to the sides of her head from the massive headache that had just ignited inside her skull. Frost, being the only one able to focus on the Grimm at present, watched with silence as the Grimm looked around with confusion at the sudden disappearance of their prey. As they shuffled back and forth atop the water, it almost appeared like they were losing interest and ready to move along their random path that Grimm travel in search of negativity and prey.

"I've got it!"

At least until Neo exclaimed her findings, the Grimm's heads all whirling to face the group on the shoreline, their purpose renewed as they charged at the group once more.

"Neo, come on! That actually worked better than I hoped and the Grimm were about to just walk off! Why did you have to yell like that?!" Frost whined aloud as he started channeling energy into his arms for what was originally the second part of the plan.

"I'm sorry, I was a little preoccupied trying to find the pieces to this piece of crap, thank you very much!"

"Can someone explain to me what the hell…this whole plan was centered around? Oh god, my head…" Emerald groaned as she practically buried her head in the snow to alleviate the pain she was experiencing.

"We dismantled Torchwick's cane a while back when we talked to Ruby about weapon's and modifying them, in the idea that we eventually modify it into Neo's parasol so that she had a way to fight in ranged combat like the rest of us given that at present she was only good for misdirection and close-quarters combat against people. Her skills never really translated well to fighting Grimm. That time was for us to retrieve the pieces of the cane, and then reattach the fibremesh that makes up her parasol to the end of the cane so that most of her fighting style wouldn't be affected." Frost explained in a hurry as the Grimm continued to rush towards them.

"Won't Torchwick's cane be unbalanced then? It didn't have the mesh on it before, so it won't sit fire properly due to the extra weight on the front." Emerald wondered aloud.

"Yeah…can't really do anything about that now, besides they're almost on us! Neo, fire at the surface of the ice just ahead of them and let it go!" Frost yelled as Neo lined up the cane with the crosshair that she had the most difficulty in retrieving before forcing her finger against the trigger of the weapon, a thundering boom echoing out even as the cane lurched up from the burst and sent a burst of explosive Dust directly in front of the Grimm. Without traction atop the ice and little time to react, the entire pack of the beasts tumbled into the now exposed water, Frost immediately rushing forward with his arms aglow as he released waves of electricity into the closest exposed water to himself, effectively frying the Grimm in the water due to the increased conductivity the water presented the electrical current, despite the cold temperature. The three of them then slowly gathered up their things as they all began lumbering back to the village to rest and recuperate after the sudden encounter.

* * *

"Just a piece of advice for the future, you two." Emerald stated with a straight tone as the others turned to face her. "The next time you wanna consider using that weapon, get it balanced at an actual blacksmith first before you get the next plan wrong. I saw the kickback on that thing when it fired, and you were this close to whiffing the whole shot and screwing us."

Frost sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he winced somewhat. "Yeah, probably a good idea to keep in mind. What do you think Neo?...Neo?"

The two of them both turned to see Neo cuddling the modified weapon against her cheek with a pleased smile on her face. At the sudden silence, she opened her eyes and looked at the two of them with confusion written on her face. "What?"

Frost immediately turned facing forward once more with a deadpanned look on his face. "Well, we're doomed."

Emerald looked back at him, just as confused as before. "What? Why?"

"Because we got this idea from talking to Ruby, who's already a weapon's nut. If we just put Neo on that same path with the way she's cuddling up that weapon, then we are so screwed with two of them."

Emerald looked back and forth between the two of them before looking ahead with a deadpan look as well. "Why did I agree to this friendship thing again?"

"…"

"…"

"No, seriously you guys, what?"


	12. Chapter 12

The three travelers were silent as they continued on their journey to Atlas' capital. Between the occasional stop in passing towns to resupply and the rare appearance of Grimm, the trip was mostly uneventful. Due to the fact that they had mostly worked out some of their underlying issues, most conversation was sparse and bland since most of their attention still had to be on their surroundings just to be on the side of caution. It was Emerald who finally decided to break the silence with something more tangible than small talk.

"Soo…since we never really talked about it before…where exactly do you two come from?"

Frost's body lurched in shock at the sudden noise, his senses focused more on the path ahead and the map he occasionally pulled out to check their course than on the group he was travelling with. He placed a hand on his chest in a futile effort to cam his now racing heart as Neo giggled somewhat before turning to face Emerald to answer her question.

"Just from a small village a few days travel from Vale, why do you ask? This seems like a bit of an odd time to ask a question like that out of the blue."

Emerald shrugged as they continued walking along, their attention now split between the road ahead and each other. "Nothing major, really. I just realized that even though we've been travelling together for some time now that we've never really talked about our lives before we got caught up in all of this mess. Figured I'd be the one to break the ice this time and get things out in the open."

Frost chuckled as he put away the map for the time being. "Well that's a first, considering how quiet you liked to be before. Don't like not having someone talk away?"

Emerald frowned slightly at the insinuation. "Just because I took orders from Cinder and had to deal with Mercury's constant sass, it doesn't mean I prefer constantly hearing something. It's just…too quiet out here. I know that Atlas and Vale both have a lot of open territory between some of the villages and cities, but it feels more…smothering in Atlas than it does in Vale. I don't know why."

"Honestly," Neo started as the three of them continued along the winding road. "It probably might just be the atmosphere of the kingdom. The Great War may have been a long time ago but some parts of it, like Atlas' suppression of creativity, can sometimes still linger in places even after years have passed. Atlas has always followed a bit of a stricter compass, and even some of its citizens admit that not everything was fixed by the War ending. It could that…or it could just be that you're bored, Emerald."

"Meh, either one works for me. I just want to finally do something active while we're here. The Grimm we've faced so far have been in such scattered amounts that nothing feels difficult. I get that they setup here because the Grimm are less common, but how on earth are they supposed to practice fighting them when they're barely around?"

"Just do what I do when I get bored." Frost stated plainly from the end of the group. "Count your footsteps and see how high the number gets before something catches your attention."

Emerald's face deadpanned while Frost gave her a straight look before shrugging and moving ahead. "Yeah…because that sounds sooo exciting."

"I never said it was fun, it just keeps my mind occupied."

"Isn't that what the map is for?" Neo asked with curiosity.

Frost turned the map around so that the other two could see it. "When the only route has only one path with no forks or deviations in it…you start to just look at it to keep your eyes busy, too. Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to have something exciting happen, but the odds of something just running through the tree line and right into us is next to nothing."

It was at that moment that Frost got his very wish- in the form of a rather sizable group of Atlas citizens breaking from the foliage in a rush as the lead member of the group toppled into Frost's back, knocking the two of them into a snowdrift.

"Remind me to ask him how he does that the next time we stop for a break." Emerald commented to Neo as the latter laughed lightly at her comment.

Frost's head lifted from the snow as he gave the two of them a snow-coated look. "Oh, haha. Very funny. Maybe you two could chat over some hot cocoa while I'm half buried in snow here. Don't help me up whatsoever. Besides, what hit me?"

"That would be me, sorry." A light voice came from behind Frost as he tried to crane his head around to see who was speaking. It was at this moment that Frost, Neo, and Emerald all finally realized that there were in fact other people standing around them with rather frightened looks on their faces with the exception of a few people carrying weapons and keeping a watchful eye out. The voice speaking belonged to a younger girl, likely a few years younger than them who currently was sitting on Frost's back at an odd angle from the landing the two had made when she ran into his back. "I tried running ahead to scout for the village, and you happened to be on the other side of the bushes. I'm really sorry about that."

Frost waved a hand nonchalantly as he and the girl both got up and brushed snow off of themselves. "Whatever. It happens. Anyways, why are so many of you in such a hurry?"

"And so nervous for that matter?" Neo interjected as an add-on to Frost's question.

"I believe I can explain that." The voice of an adult male came out from the group as a man with a formal stance stepped forward from the group. He appeared to be just as calm as the armed citizens within the group, but despite not having a weapon on his person he seemed to cast an air of command about him, one that demanded attention when he was speaking. "First of all, I apologize for my daughter's hastiness in our initial encounter. Her job was to scout, not to run full brazen into the open road without looking first. Second of all, my name is Hatham. I am what you would consider the mayor of our town, though I don't know if that title means much anymore without one."

"What do you mean?" Neo asked curiously. "Why would you not be mayor anymore short of the place being destroyed?"

"Because, my dear. That is precisely what has happened." Hatham stated with a sigh as he removed his glasses for a moment as he looked up towards the sky with a sad look in his eyes. "Our village is currently swarmed with a bizarre type of Grimm that has not been seen before, and due to both their sudden appearance and our smaller population we were forced to flee before many of us were killed. Unfortunately…not everyone was so fortunate. A few of our citizens were out gathering firewood from our usual spot in the woods when they were set upon by the Grimm without warning. Only a couple lost their lives in the initial attack, but apparently another pack had been approaching town from a different direction and by the time the rest of them returned the town was already under siege. One of the citizens that returned happened to be a retired Huntsman with a wife who was also retired and their children and he told the rest of us to get out while he went to gather his family from one of the houses on the edge of town closest to where the Grimm initially attacked. The look on that man's face was both determined and fearful at the same time and I did not hesitate to have the town evacuated after seeing and hearing what he told us. We ran for the better part of the day and then we ran, quite literally in this case, into you three. What purpose do three armed children have in this part of Atlas, anyways?" The three of them looked to each other for a moment before nodding as Neo stepped forward.

"We're students from Beacon who came to Atlas to try and find answers about the attack on Vale. We happened to be passing by on our way to the capital to try and speak with someone higher up in Atlas to hopefully gain some clue or possible lead to where we should look next."

"Does this have anything to do with the supposed claims that Atlas is partly to blame for the attacks?!" Hatham stepped forward menacingly as he glared down at Neo, his pleasant demeanor rapidly replaced by a man bordering on a rage.

"Hey, back up old man." Frost stated as he stepped forward, his bracers locking into place as he glared back into the man's eyes. "We were there, like she said, so we know that Atlas isn't to blame. Someone high jacked the robotic soldiers Atlas had brought by commandeering one of the airships. General Ironwood himself was helping to fight against the Grimm and robots himself amidst everything, so we're not saying we blame you. Now step away so we can go get your town back."

The man's stance faltered in the face of Frost's sudden involvement and steel tone. He cleared his throat briefly as he straightened his collar before speaking in a more controlled manner. "My apologies for my outburst, it's just that some of the refugees that came here from Vale have been more than open about their opinion of Atlas at present. It's good to know that not everyone has that mindset."

"Yeah, well when you've seen some of the things we've seen, you'd understand why we're not like those idiots." Emerald stated matter-of-factly. "So we just head in the direction you guys came from and we'll be there within the day?"

"Yes, but I don't see how the three of you alone can stop so many of them. What do you plan to do?"

Neo and Emerald looked to each other with uncertainty while Frost glanced amongst the group, through the crying children and frightful citizens to the trained warriors who you could occasionally see their stance falter as their eyes fleeted back and forth to their surroundings as though anticipating another attack.

"We'll wipe out every last one of them. Simple as that." The statement was made so calmly and strongly that everyone in the area stopped what they were doing to all stare at Frost in the center of attention.

Hatham faltered somewhat as he gave Frost a dumbfound look before shaking himself together. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said we're going to kill all of the Grimm. Simple."

Hatham's expression grew wild as he shook his head in shock. "B-but, there are at least two dozen of them there now, possibly more if any others arrived after we fled the town. How can three of you take on that many at once?!"

"Easy. Because I can do this." Frost stated plainly as he walked over to a nearby tree that was slightly thicker than others around it. "Everyone step back so you don't get crushed under this." The group of citizens all looked at each other with confused looks before Neo and Emerald sighed and stepped in to gently move the group further away.

"We're clear Frost. Let it out." Neo stated sadly as Frost turned his head slightly to nod at the two of them, Neo and Emerald the only ones in line to see the slight black tendrils starting to creep into Frost's pained eyes before he turned back as his arms flared brightly.

Moments later a loud, rage-filled scream pierced the air as Frost began pummeling the tree's trunk with his armored fists, the sound of splintering and crunching wood the only sound to be heard for nearly a minute before Frost stopped, his arms slack at his sides while the tree itself wobbled back and forth with a large gouge near its base. A moment later a loud splintering sound then echoed through the air as the tree began toppling towards Frost, it's weight carrying it directly towards him as the group of citizens began to panic.

"Boy, move!" Hatham yelled with shock as Frost stood unmoving at the face of the tree shifting in front of him.

Emerald looked over to Neo, the latter of which sighed sadly once again as the light around her flashed for a moment as she teleported next to Frost's body as she grabbed onto one of his dimming hands with one of her own before the light around them flashed once more and they teleported back to group just as the tree finished collapsing mere feet from the group.

The group of citizens all started moving to circle Neo, Emerald, and Frost as they all struggled to see if he was hurt at all. Hatham and his daughter were the ones who stepped forward to see if everything was okay, only for Hatham's daughter to cover her mouth in shock with a gasp as she and her father saw tears streaming down Frost's face while Neo hugged him from the side as she tried to console him.

"I…don't understand. What happened?" Hatham asked gently with a shocked voice. "Why did he just stop like that?" Frost and Neo were both silent as Emerald looked on, torn between stepping in and also wanting to stand back and see if they would explain given her own curiosity in the situation. Was she about to learn more about Frost and Neo's past by accident?

"Our village in Vale…was attacked by Grimm over ten years ago. Both of us lost our parents in the attack, with the majority of the town being decimated within moments at the ferocity of the attacks that happened. He…never fully got over it and hearing about something similar happening here probably set him off even more than he realized. I'm sorry you had to see him like that."

"If anything, we should be apologizing for forcing him to remember such a tragic event. For a child to lose their parents at such a young age is a fate no one should be subjected to. But while your display proves your skill, I still don't see how the three of you are supposed to take care of such a large pack of Grimm on your own."

"Trust me, we've got this handled." Emerald stated as she stepped forward finally, one hand resting on Frost's shoulder as he looked over with a still somewhat broken look on his face even though the tears had long since stopped. "We've faced worse back in Vale and even through getting used to fighting together so we'll find some way to stop them. I promise."

The villagers all looked back and forth to each other and they started whispering while Hatham stood with a hand to his chin in thought with his eyes closed, his daughter standing next to him with a pleading look on her face. After some small time of silence, he opened his eyes and nodded to the three of them with a neutral expression.

"Fine then. We will leave the defense of our town in your hands. Please do what you can to save anyone that may still be alive there, though I'm unsure whether anyone could in the amount of time we've been gone. Just don't get yourselves hurt for our sakes. You may be Huntsmen In-Training, but your lives are still more important than ours due to what you are capable of achieving. We won't fault you if you choose to turn and continue on your own journey."

"Not happening." Frost stated as he ran an arm across his face to clean away remnants of his crying. "I've already seen a town lost once, if I can do anything about it I won't see it happen again. Once we leave, give it a couple of hours and start making your way back. That should give us time to clean up and leave things open to the rest of you to return to your homes. Only turn around if you either see any of us running towards you and say that it's too much, or if you hear sounds of Grimm, hide."

"We'll see, but I also won't unnecessarily risk my own people without confirmation."

"Trust me, you'll have it. Hopefully we'll see the rest of you warm and comfortable again by this time tonight." With that, Frost, Neo, and Emerald started walking in the direction the villagers had come from, the group parting to let them by as they all watched with equal parts worry and wonder.

"So this is what they meant when they told us about the unstoppable drive of Huntsmen." Hatham whispered to himself.

"Who said that, dad?" Hatham's daughter stated from beside him.

"Just some friends of mine from back in the day." Hatham stated with a light smile on his face. "I just hope he managed to get to his family in time. The last thing we need today is more family's torn apart by the Grimm. Those children have faced enough hardship for a lifetime, and I pray they don't have to face more before their journey is over."

Only time will tell.

* * *

 **So I decided to have the notes follow the chapter this time around rather than come before just so that I can just say a couple things.**

 **For those that have read this story through what has been written so far as well as the prequel, I likely mentioned at some point that Frost has some of my own personal tendencies when it comes to quirks and mannerisms, one of those being the odd counting steps and bottling up emotions just to release all at once in a large outburst. It's not healthy, but it's also very realistic and a big part of how some folks just happen to function.**

 **Now that aside, I also just want to take a moment to thank everyone that has been on this ride so far whether you're here relatively new or since the beginnings of my original story. I realize that I have been slacking a bit lately when it comes to updates, but I promise that this story won't be ending or being cancelled anytime soon. I've put too much love and care into writing this and refuse to just let it end/die out like that. The only real issue I'm having at the moment is figuring out some of the intricacies of later arcs in this story prior to the finale, which I have figured out for the most part. This arc however still has a fair bit to go, so as long as I can get even something small to go with in that time I shouldn't have any issue with getting this story good from start to finish.**

 **For those that want to leave any thoughts, criticisms, or questions, feel free to leave them here or in a PM. I may have some decent writing practice under my belt but any potential improvements are more than welcome, especially since I am thinking of cracking out a novel of my own once this story has reached its end.**

 **And with that done, enjoy the rest of your day everyone and I hope you like it so far!**


	13. Chapter 13

**So, here is the next chapter after a bit of a delay. I originally intended everything to happen in one chapter, but I prefer how this turned out. So this will be a two-part sequence with this chapter being a build up to the larger event in the next chapter. I hope you guys don't mind this chapter being more of a setup instead of a full-length chapter after the wait you've been through. I can guarantee though that the next chapter will be considerably more exciting than this one.**

 **As always, leave any thoughts in a review as I always like hearing thoughts as well as any feedback people would like to give in regards to the story. Enjoy!**

* * *

The three of them moved as silently as possible while still keeping a fast pace as they trudged through the foliage and snow in the direction that the villagers had come from. They knew that their only chance to minimize damage would be to move quickly rather than at the ideal pace to completely avoid detection, but they also knew that the Grimm were focused more on the town itself so there wouldn't be much if anything between them and the town. This didn't stop one member of the group from anxiously giving another the odd glance as they went.

"Cobalt." Neo stated simply as the three of them continued on, hoping he would stop when she spoke the name that not many referred to him by. To her disappointment however, he only tilted his head somewhat to glance in her direction as a sign to continue as they moved through the trees. Emerald glanced over as well, also curious as to the reasoning for Neo wanting his attention now of all times. Neo sighed briefly before continuing anyways, as the thought was still on her mind. "Are you sure you're okay to fight right now? You know how your powers tend to get when you get emotional."

Frost grunted slightly, both in frustration at Neo's question and at the exertion he had to use to hoist himself quickly over a large fallen tree in their path while the other two were in a position to simply adjust their course slightly to move around it. "That's not exactly something we have time to deal with right now, do we?" He stated rather plainly but with a slightly harsh tone. He continued before Neo could say something in response though. "You saw the expressions on their faces, as well as how out of breath and tired they were. This is the only home they know and it very well could be gone if the Grimm have done enough damage. You know as well as I do how familiar that sounds."

"I know. And I know that when we were younger you always vowed to keep something like this from happening if you could. But is now really the best time to play hero with everything we saw happen in Vale and without any idea when it could happen next?"

"So you would rather we just leave them to fend for themselves without a home or proper supplies to travel, then? What kind of message would we be sending them about Huntsmen and Huntresses if they saw us and just left them alone? I know that none of us took any oaths since none of us got proper training, but I still made a vow when I was younger, like you said. I'm not going back on that regardless of the situation."

"Hold up you two," Emerald interjected as they moved, her voice coming from further back than they expected to which Frost and Neo both stopped and turned back to see why she was suddenly so far behind. When they both saw her knelt over the ground and glancing up at them with a beckoning look, they both moved back to see what she was looking at as she continued. "You should see this." Emerald then gestured with one hand towards some markings along the trees and snow that made both of their eyes widen in surprise. "I take it you both recognize those markings as Beowolves too, but notice how off they are. Up until now we didn't see any sign of Grimm movements or any signs of a struggle. And then all of a sudden these tracks and marks come out of nowhere? I'm not the biggest expert on Grimm or anything, but they don't usually come up out of nowhere like that unless something like that Dragon in Vale is involved." Emerald then looked up at the two of them as they also glanced around to see the different indentations and tracks. "What are we getting ourselves involved in?"

Frost's posture relaxed somewhat as he focused his attention more on his memory of what he read about Grimm when he was younger and wanted to know as much as possible rather than the anger and frustration he could feel bubbling inside of him. Neo turned to him hopefully as she had never taken the same devotion into reading up on the creatures of Grimm when they were younger, instead focusing more on helping the younger children in the orphanage when they had gotten older. Frost slowly moved around, touching and examining things more closely as he tried to piece things together from his scattered knowledge and readings that had also been improved from his time spent at Beacon.

After some time however, he shook his head in frustration as a fist bumped against the side of one of the larger trees in the immediate area. "I can honestly say that even I'm not sure what we're going up against here." He turned back with a hand to his chin in thought as Neo and Emerald gave each other a nervous look. "My first thought would have been something like a Geist, but there are too many marks to support that as usually they only ever appear one at a time and possessing large chunks of debris and landscape. Nothing here is disturbed as though forcibly moved like that so there goes that idea. The marks are identical to Beowolves, but they don't just appear out of nowhere like this. It's practically like they just rose out of the snow and started attacking the villagers that were out gathering materials."

"What if something like Vale happened, where someone transported Grimm and deployed them here like the White Fang did at Beacon?" Emerald asked, her first thought being to the Grimm that had been meant to distract many of the students and teachers from assisting the city itself.

"The villagers definitely couldn't have missed the sounds of transport ships through here; it's too isolated to be missed. No, something else is going on here, and I don't think we'll find out until we get to the village and investigate further." Frost turned back in the direction that they had originally been moving as he turned back and gestured to the other two. "Let's go."

The other two nodded as they both got up and they moved off once again, a new sense of urgency on their minds as they all thought about other ways that Grimm could just appear out of nowhere.

* * *

The three of them didn't have to travel much further before they came upon the edge of the town and saw the damage that had been exacted. However what they saw had all of them stood in confusion as they looked about for answers. It was obvious that the town had been attacked from the damage visible on various buildings and few small fires still smoldering on the edges of some buildings. It was what was not there that had all of them confused.

There was no sign of the Grimm themselves, tracks or otherwise saying that they had left the village boundaries. There was just…nothing.

The three of them slowly approached one of the houses that had been more heavily affected by the fighting, hoping to hear the sounds of any survivors or the family that the mayor had been speaking of that the retired Huntsman had belonged to. Neo motioned to the others to be silent as she carefully pushed on the door, expecting to find it unlocked, however it did not budge as the latch held tightly. Neo tilted her head in confusion as she moved over to one of the ground floor windows to look inside so that she could just transport inside and unlock the door for the other two rather than cause a large amount of noise.

After a brief flash of light and small click of the lock being opened, the three of them started investigating the house slowly in hopes of finding any signs of human life. Normally the fact that the house was still sealed would have put them at ease, but after seeing Grimm tracks appear out of nowhere they knew better than to assume a false sense of safety when they were caught up in the unknown. After going through every room on the ground floor and finding nothing out of the ordinary, they started moving up the stairs towards the second floor with Frost up front and Emerald bringing up the rear so that Neo could easily reach out and grab both of them to teleport if the need arose. Their search continued to prove fruitless as they went about, not finding any signs of anyone still in the building or of any signs of a fight aside from the odd mark of a gouge out of the walls going down the halls, the obvious signs of a fight.

Eventually they were left with only one room unchecked as the three stood outside the final closed door in the outside. They all looked at each other for a moment as they took time to compose themselves before signaling their readiness. With that, Frost started to turn the knob on the final door, only to find that this one door in the house happened to be locked from the inside. With a brief gesture to the other two they both made room as Frost stepped back from the door before one of his legs started to light up with the use of his Semblance. After a few well-placed kicks near the doorknob the wood splintered and broke away as Frost then reached in to turn the lock, expecting to meet some form of resistance in the form of a person stopping him from doing just that. However that did not happen as he opened the door with no additional difficulty and pushed open the door with a perplexed look on his face that did not go unnoticed by the other two.

The three of them all stood cautiously as Frost pushed the door open, yet it did not prepare any of them for the sight that was brought before their eyes after the door had finished opening in their direction and the frozen corpse of a man tumbled towards them and shattered on the wooden floor between all of them as Frost leapt to the side opposite the others. Neo let out a sudden shriek of surprise and fear while Emerald swore under her breath at the sudden sight. Frost however, was still and silently in shock as he had also caught a glimpse of something else as he had leapt away from the falling body.

It was obvious enough after they had all calmed down to an extent that from the size and stature that they had witnessed and from the large weapon littering the doorway that the body had likely been the Huntsman that the mayor had been speaking of. While Emerald continued to keep a comforting arm around Neo's shoulders to attempt to calm her down more, Frost slowly loved into the room itself to the sad sight that lay within.

The Huntsman's family, frozen in a final scene of solidarity as the mother reached protectively over the two children, the expressions of fear and terror forever the last expressions they would wear.

* * *

Frost sat in silence with his back pressed against the wall opposite the frozen bodies, one leg propped up as he rested an arm on it while Neo wiped a tear from her eye, the initial release spent when she had witnessed the scene of the dead family after Frost had gone in and not come back out without making a sound. To the two of them, the initial thought of a scene like this being their own demise when they were younger was an all too real thought before they moved on with the assurance that they had in fact survived. It was obvious to all now in the room however that Frost was not handling the situation well between the tenseness of his muscles and occasional twitch in one eye- specifically the one that had the signs of the black tendrils once again appearing. It was taking all of his effort to keep the feelings at bay for risk of bringing the Grimm back in case they were not far from the village still. The fact that they had seen no signs of them leaving or in the village still made no sense in any of their minds and that concern would not go away anytime soon.

Emerald sighed as she looked around the room, at the strained look on Frost's face; the forlorn look on Neo's face as she once again glanced between the shattered body of now melting ice outside the door and huddled family inside the room; then the room itself as she looked at the only signs of a struggle in the room. The one window in the room lay shattered and open as small gusts of wind and snow blew into the room and onto an already existing pile in the corner. However, as her eyes passed over the pile of snow, she noticed something she hadn't before as the snow shift slightly around something. As she stepped closer, her eyes widen as she brushed away some snow and noticed a dark powder mixed among the white flakes.

"Hey, guys. You need to look at this." Her simple statement had both Frost and Neo looking in her direction once again as they both moved from their positions to see what it was that Emerald had noticed. As they both approached, their eyes widened in surprise as well at the odd black substance lingered amongst the snow. None of them recognized it as a form of Dust as no reports had ever been made as to a black Dust ever being formed or found in existence. For all intents and purposes it seemed like gunpowder but when Emerald described the way it felt they knew it couldn't be that, especially since the discarded weapon seemed not to have been changed from its melee form since it still contained a full cartridge of ammunition and no spent cases lay in the room.

As Frost leant forward to examine the powder more closely himself, he felt his head throb somewhat to which he shook it off, likely just the lingering emotions from seeing the family frozen in the room. As his fingers skimmed the surface of the black powder he knew he was wrong however as he felt a burning sensation rush through his arm and burn in his skull as he snapped back from the substance and raised his other hand to his temple to attempt to relieve the pained headache he suddenly felt. However the feeling disappeared as quickly as it arrived, his head fine moments later but not without Emerald and Neo both looking to him to explanation for what had just happened since all they had witnessed was him suddenly reeling back as though hurt by the powder.

Before anyone could speak however, the black powder and pile of snow started moving as though generating its own wind and lifted outside of the open window of the house. The three looked at each other in shock before a sound pierced the air and sent a chill through all of them, and not from the cold.

The sound of a Beowolf's howl.


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, thankfully I didn't take so long this time around in writing the next chapter for you guys. Hopefully I didn't make any big mistakes in this chapter, but if anyone sees anything odd just give me a shout and I'll look into it. If I'm lucky I can maintain a weekly/biweekly update routine on this story. I'll let you guys know if anything comes up to hinder that at all.**

 **Otherwise, enjoy the newest installment!**

* * *

"Frost, what happened?!" Neo worriedly asked as Frost looked at his right hand, a small trail of smoke lifting from where he had made contact with the black substance. "One moment everything is quiet and then suddenly you're wincing in pain and we hear Grimm right after that weird…stuff just floats out the window!"

"I…" Frost started as he clenched his hand into a ball a few times to see if there was any lasting damage, his eyes wide in shock at the feeling that had just passed through his system. "I don't know. I was just checking that stuff like the two of you and then it feels like my arm and head are on fire for a moment before it passes like it never happened. What is that stuff?"

"I doubt any of us has time to figure that out right now," Emerald stated with a strained tone as she stood looking outside the open window, her eyes following the snow and substance as it flew away. "We've got company outside…and they're not your average Grimm. Honestly I don't know what the hell to call them."

Frost and Neo both moved over to look outside the window as Emerald stepped aside, her expression focused and unpleasant as Neo gasped and Frost's words stuck in his throat. The sight outside left them both confused and frightened as they lay witness to a new form of Grimm that none of them had read about before. The forms were nothing different as they all were shaped like Beowolves; however it was what they were formed off that was the true concern. While parts of them consisted of the usual black that Grimm were comprised of, parts of them were as white as snow, as though the landscape itself had arisen to take on the forms they now saw. With claws and teeth formed of icicles and the usual bone plating now also formed of ice it was like a winter nightmare come to life before their eyes.

"What. The. Fuck." Frost stated with a dumbstruck look after the initial shock had worn off. "I have read countless books on reported sightings and documentations about Grimm and nowhere, I mean absolutely nowhere, did I read about shit like this. Not even Geist's are capable of something like this since they can only manipulate one form and they usually go for something big anyways. These are literally Beowolves that are acclimated to the Atlas environment. That doesn't happen."

"Well news flash genius, it happened," Emerald stated as she retrieved her weapons from their holsters with a sharp click. "And they've known we're here the whole time. See how they're just looking at us? It's classic predator-prey mentality. If we run, they'll chase us. If we rush them, they'll pounce. Any ideas?"

The three of them looked around the large town square that the Grimm were packed into, each one of them looking for some way to gain an early advantage before removing the Grimm threat. After some time, Neo's eyes widened as she noticed a slightly taller building near the large pack of Grimm that had a sharp overhang that the beasts couldn't see around on to the rooftop.

"What about over there? It's hidden from view and we can use that to our advantage." Her gestured hand allowed the other two to see where she was referring to specifically.

"But we wouldn't be able to see them either, how does that help?" Frost asked incredulously.

"Because, they won't be under there forever once we give them some encouragement to head this way. One thing of bait always attracts a pack, remember? We used the same kind of trick back in Vale." Neo stated plainly as the other two caught onto her intentions.

"Okay, but whose going to be bait?" Emerald asked curiously as Frost also looked amongst their group with an unsure expression.

Neo smirked lightly as she retrieved her collapsed parasol from her belt and opened it fully. "I've got that covered, trust me."

* * *

Moments later, after the Grimm witnessed a brief flash of light from within the house that they sensed living beings, a lone figure hopped down from the open portal into the snow with a soft thud of impact. The human was small and not menacing in any way, however it was food for them all the same and thus the pack rushed forward in a mad attempt at claiming the prize. They were only recently formed, and thus hungered for any sort of food to sustain them in their hunt.

However upon reaching their prey it crumpled into the snow with a shattering sound, leaving the pack anxiously looking around for more food. One Grimm picked up the scent of humans before the rest, and swiveled its head towards the roof of one of the buildings in hopes of spotting new prey. Its vision caught sight of something gleaming in the sun for a brief instant before its head turned sharply and forced its line of sight into the ground with a sickening crack. The icicle-plating held, though now noticeably cracked as the intruder leapt away from it with a hiss of pain, clutching at one of its arm as two more now beside it looked on in worry briefly before turning to open fire on the pack.

Their meal had come to them this time…and they would not waste this opportunity.

* * *

Frost groaned in pain as he swung bursts of energy from each arm, his right arm burning as though stuffed into an open flame and left to cook. Neo and Emerald had also noticed this, but were otherwise too preoccupied with shooting up the Grimm as they lumbered up to them in groups of 2 or 3 at a time. There were nearly two dozen littering the village, and the three of them now worried if they had the firepower to do this on their own given how Frost did not seem as able to fight as he normally would. This could potentially turn into them having to flee and give the unfortunate news to the villagers on the run.

"Frost! Get back and just resort to stunning them for us! You can't fight them like this with your hand the way it is! You'll get hurt!" Neo exclaimed between shots as she released another bolt of Dust from her parasol before engaging the shield portion and deflecting a particularly nasty swipe from a Beowolf as it swung towards her head. Emerald quickly dispatched a single Beowolf that had left its midsection too vulnerable after a series of wild swings and bites via unloading a rapid barrage of bullets into it, thus killing it and rendering it to its normally smoky form. Moments later though, around when the smoke would fully dissipate, it floated over the roof of another larger building in the town before another beast leapt towards them in hot pursuit.

"If I get a little scratched up then that's part of the work risk! This village needs clearing, and it'll go a lot smoother if I help you rather than sit on the sidelines like a coward! I'm not going anywhere!" Frost yelled back in retort as a Beowolf leapt towards him with its maw open wide seeking flesh, only to meet a metal fist as its snout was shoved into the snow and dirt with a solid crunch. Before it could leap away to the safety of its pack, a jolt of electricity surged through it before it slumped to the ground defeated, its smoke joining that of the previously defeated beast moments later. "What the heck is up with these Grimm though?! First they get formed from the snow and ice, and now they don't even die like they should! What the hell are these things?!"

"Well maybe we can find that out once we've thinned them out some more," Emerald snapped back as she swung her weapons crosswise against a Grimm with devastating precision, leaving another body to smoke and disappear. "There's still too many to focus on anything else right now!"

The three of them continued fighting, occasionally killing a Grimm before moving away as more leapt upon their position. After a while of fighting, they started to notice something worrying the more things dragged on. No matter how many they defeated, it always felt like the Grimm numbers never truly diminished, as more seemed to appear out of nowhere after they defeated a few.

"Okay, I know I'm not the only one noticing this!" Frost yelled after back stepping away from a Grimm's jaws and delivering a sharp kick with his legs to its body, launching its form into the back of the pack where it too smoked away and floated above the building. "These things should be down to only a few by now and yet it seems like we're just back where we started! We need to get to that rooftop and see what's happening when that smoke goes up there!" Frost planted both hands onto the ground inside of the snow as his arms started to light up sharper than before and small bolts of electricity started to ripple on the visible surface of his gauntlets. "Both of you jump up…now!"

On command, Neo and Emerald both leapt from the ground towards anything they could prop themselves on top of such as tables, trees, or the like that were not in the direct path of Frost's attack. Moments later a crackling wave of electricity surged outwards from Frost's position and crept towards the most conductive surfaces they could find. As most of the ground was mostly covered in snow and most structures were formed out of wood, the only targets left were that of the Grimm as most of them began twitching and howling from the surge of electricity that passed through them. One beast however had been in mid leap as Frost had released the pent up energy, and neither Emerald or Neo had time to raise their weapons to defend him after leaping to safety themselves, forcing them to watch as the beast's jump propelled it closer and closer to Frost's form as he concentrated on channeling energy out of his body and into the Grimm so as to stun them.

"Frost! LOOK OUT!" Neo screamed over the howl of the Grimm as Frost looked up to see the beast's claw descending towards him. At the last possible moment he pushed away from the ground by propelling a burst of energy out of his heads to use the momentum to carry him backwards and away from the outstretched arm. While this succeeded in getting his head and torso out of harm's way, it did not completely remove him from it as the claw came down against his glowing arm that was partially exposed between the sleeve of his jacket and the metal of the gauntlet.

What happened next was entirely unexpected.

As the icicle claws of the odd Grimm came in contact with Frost's right arm, he once again felt a searing pain rush up it and through him, but did not miss what happened to the Grimm at the same time. The claw snapped and melted instantly as it came in contact with his skin, not leaving any indication of a scratch or tear and instead leaving what looked like a light burn. The lack of impact set the Grimm off-balance as its arm continued to move minus its claws and Frost used that moment to deliver a sharp pulse of energy out of his other hand into the Beowolf's open maw, exploding its body outwards in a shower of ice and smoke as it too perished and floated away.

Everything seemed to slow as the three of them all looked on in amazement, though Neo and Emerald were not in a position to see the grimace on Frost's face that came with the burning sensation that had rushed through his body. With it though, came a look of understanding and realization as he quickly discarded both his jacket and gauntlets to Neo and Emerald's shock and concern.

"Frost! What are you doing?!" Emerald yelled out over the snarls of Grimm that were now standing at a distance and snarling at the lone figure immediately in front of them. "You can't defend yourself without those things, so why are you just standing there like an idiot and taking them off?!"

"Because I just figured out a new way to fight these things that should make it easier for the two of you to investigate that building!" Frost yelled back without taking his eyes off of the Grimm in front of him while the hairs on his arms stood up briefly in the cold wind, his arms now noticeably glowing all the way from his hands to his shoulders.

"But how are you supposed to do that without a weapon?!" Neo snapped over the wind as she tried to talk sense into Frost from her own vantage point. "You can't fight them barehanded no matter how much of your Semblance you use! It'll burn you out too fast!"

"While that may be true," Frost returned as he stretched both arms for a moment and clenched and unclenched his fists, now free of the constricting metal and leather straps. "That's the entire point! Remember how we were talking about my not being bother by the cold even when wearing light stuff like my jacket or just a shirt? It was my Semblance the whole time acting subconsciously after it manifested. You saw the way that things claws practically melted and broke against my arm, and that wasn't the metal part of it. If I focus my energy as a source of heat rather than energy or adrenaline, I can melt them on contact!"

"Ever thought that maybe a fireball might work better?" Emerald retorted as she took shots at a Grimm trying to sneak up on the tree she was standing in, its mouth opening in a snarl as it backed up to the rest of its pack.

"I'm not Yang. I can't just burst into flame like her Semblance does. Heat is just another form of energy anyways, so it stands to reason that I can warm up my body just by focusing in the right way. I won't be able to do it for long without risking burns to myself, but it should be enough time to hold them back for the two of you to check out the roof." Frost adjusted his footing as the Grimm began to inch closer to him, their hesitation and curiosity now beginning to pass. "Now, go! Before I rethink this stupid idea!"

"You heard the man." Emerald stated coolly before leaping from the tree to the nearest house and started running and leaping in the direction of the taller building the smoke kept moving towards. Neo, after passing a brief and worried look in Frost's direction, leapt after her as the two went to investigate.

* * *

The sounds of fighting continued from below as Grimm took turns leaping at Frost's form only to scramble and try to move back just as fast as parts of their body melted or cracked at his touch as he dodged swings and planted his fists or elbows into the icy parts of the Grimm bodies. Neo winced as two leapt at him at once, only for Frost to turn his body to stand in the small middle gap between the claws before reaching out and planting a hand each into the Grimm's chests.

"He'll be fine. He knows what he's doing." Emerald stated calmly as they approached their target. "Though he's a hell of a lot more suicidal than I thought."

"It's not that he's suicidal," Neo stated from beside Emerald, her head turning to face the shorter girl with a curious look. "He's always gone out of his way to try and protect those in trouble, and I can't count how many times he used to get into fights with other kids in the neighborhood when they would pick on some of the younger orphans. It always ended up with him getting scratched up and hurt, but he never cared as long as the ones being targeted got away without getting hurt themselves. I'm worried he still sees things like that, and just counts this as another one of those times. These are Grimm though, and not ordinary people, so one wrong move could end so much worse than a playground fight that goes too far."

Emerald gave Neo a neutral look before turning and facing the Grimm fighting Frost briefly. It was clear that every now and then he would take a hit from one of the beasts and was forced to move back to make space and leave himself ground to work with, but he had said himself that he had a slightly larger Aura pool that helped whenever his Semblance started to run low and he had to start feeding on his Aura rather than bolstering it at times. Would it be enough to cover them, though? Emerald had no idea and she had her doubts as well, but she wasn't going to make Neo more worried by voicing them at this time. That would just make things worse. Besides, they were almost there, and would need to be completely focused for what they would face.

The two of them took one last leap as they landed atop the building where the smoke kept going, and what they saw left both startled and confused. Nothing lay atop the roof itself, however what floated above it was the real concern. For floating and twirling roughly three feet above the roof on the far side was a black diamond shaped crystal, speckled with snow and ice which also fluttered around it as though in orbit. The crystal itself even looked to be of the same material as the substance they had found amidst the pile of snow inside the house where the family had died.

And then it all made sense. Why they felt waves of cold any time a claw would pass near them, why the family was frozen but no signs of blood had indicated any fatal wounds, and why Frost was able to fight them by heating up his body via his Semblance. The Grimm weren't part ice…they WERE the ice. Normally they could only form from those puddles and droppings like they had seen come from the Dragon back in Vale, yet these needed no such thing to form. Before they had time to react further however, the crystal pulsed an ominous red before a large portion drifted away from it along with a large quantity of snow and ice and formed into that of an Alpha Beowolf between them and the crystalline structure.

"Well," Emerald snarked as she transformed her weapons into their blade form. "Looks like we've got one more between us and what's making those things. Ready to put a stop to these things?"

Neo looked over with a groan at Emerald's sassy grin as she engaged the Dust chamber inside her weapon and took aim at the Beowolf with a sideways glance. "Only if you can keep it distracted long enough to give me a clear shot at the crystal, sure."

And then the Alpha leapt at them, with a shake of the roof from the force of its propulsion, its jaws open wide and claws outstretched as the two girls stood their ground.


	15. Chapter 15

**Alright, so here is the next chapter for you all to enjoy. Frankly I found this one more fun to write than some I've done recently, and I hope you all enjoy the new stuff I throw into the story with this newest update.**

 **In other news the reason I did this today rather than Monday like I've done with some of my recent updates (because apparently Monday's have been a regular day off for me for a while now and I figured I'd make use of that), is because I plan on starting to play Mass Effect Andromeda tomorrow with my 10 hours of Origin Access and roll right into the official launch of it through that as well. Plus I really wanted to get this particular set of fights and such over with since this is 3 if not 4 chapters that we've been focused on just these events.**

 **As usual, leave any thoughts in a review or a convenient little PM if there's anything you wanted to comment on or criticize. Either way, have a great day folks!**

* * *

Frost breathed heavily as he stood off with the pack of Grimm in front of him. His arms continued to glow and flash occasionally with a brief crackle of electricity. Sweat beaded and fell down his forehead as he clenched his teeth to bare the pain he could feel running through his bare arms. He knew why it was happening, but also that it was necessary to give Neo and Emerald the opening they needed to deal with the source of the problem- whatever it was.

He quickly hopped back as one of the Grimm swung for his previous position, releasing a sharp jolt of energy from one hand into the beast's claw, shattering some of the ice and black mass that the Grimm was composed of, but not enough to destroy it outright. As his momentum caused his feet to leave a small track of disturbed snow on his landing, he looked around to see how to better proceed with dealing with the Grimm. His original plan had simply been to act as a distraction for the other two, but now that he was faced with a group of Grimm by himself the reality of the situation set in.

He had once again managed to get caught in a fight on his own without planning ahead.

"Well, I guess I'll probably be getting an earful from Neo after this. She keeps going on about how I'm too eager to throw myself in harm's way." Frost chuckled lightly as he ducked under a horizontal swipe from another Grimm, only to wince as his outreached left hand made contact with the chest of the beast and the sound of hissing steam filled the air for a brief moment as his superheated fist met the surface of the creature's crystalline plating and broke through the other side of its back. "Oh well, it was bound to happen anyways. I'm just lucky I finally realized why I was never bothered by the cold after we had that talk by the lake the other day."

* * *

Frost grunted as he stretched his arms, the group of three casually returning back to the village as Neo tinkered with a couple parts that had come from her attempt at putting together hers and Torchwick's weapons.

"Seriously, how does that not feel cold to you?" Emerald asked with a perplexed look as she watched Frost walk around without so much as shivering in his light layering. "That thing can't be lined with anything to possibly keep you warm enough. So how do you do it?"

Neo shook her head as Frost just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Give it a rest, Em. We gave up trying to figure it out years ago when we first started to notice it. Everyone just kind of started joking that he was carrying a personal heater under his coats for all those years since it first started to be noticeable."

"I still think it's weird. No human being should be that resistant to cold."

Frost chuckled as he turned to face the other two from the front of the group, his back currently turned to their present direction as he walked backwards. "And what about if someone had a Semblance that made them, say… light on fire? Like Yang? What would you say then?"

"Well considering it's only when she gets mad that it happens, I'd say she's only somewhat lucky since on that note she'd be a real joy to go on a mission in Atlas with. Pass." Emerald stated as she waved a hand dismissively at Frost's retort. "It's not all it's cracked up to be to get worked up all the time."

"Yeah…" Frost responded with a more subdued tone of voice. "Tell me about it. Even before the whole thing with that weird-ass drug, my Semblance was still always tied to my emotions a fair bit. It was usually when I got really worked up that it flared more than when I used it consciously. Always wondered if there was a way to shut it off, but the multiple fired televisions that the orphanage had to get rid of was proof of the obvious. Oh well."

As Frost turned around to face in front of them once again, however, his foot slipped on a patch of ice and caused him to fall sideways into a large pile of snow on the side of the path, leaving only his legs exposed at an angle as they wiggled helplessly.

"Okay, I am definitely saving this." Neo exclaimed with glee as she went to pull out her scroll and take a few pictures of Frost's legs slumped next to the large snowdrift. Once she was done and Emerald taken the time to laugh to her hearts content, they both moved forward to grab an individual limb to pull him free. However, when they went to grab his legs, they both reacted with a sharp yelp of pain as a searing heat rushed through their hands the moment they started to grip onto Frost. What followed was a series of very odd events.

What had once been a large pile of snow very rapidly became a pile of slush and water that Frost lay face-down in as he turned his soaked head to look at the other two with a confused look. "Okay…what the hell just happened?" After that, the three quickly realized that Frost's Semblance had once again shown a new use, though only in select circumstances would it even remotely be useful.

* * *

"I doubt our first guess about its functionality would be punching ice-based Grimm. Seriously, as far as I knew these things have never even been seen before. Maybe we'll get to name the things since we were the first ones to ever encounter them." Frost's thought was interrupted as another Grimm swung for his position with a series of savage bites and swipes of its claws in an attempt to claim Frost for its meal.

"Okay now, take your time guys. I'm just a distraction after all." Frost stated coolly as he turned his full attention back to the pack of Grimm in front of him. "Can't let this end too soon, you know." He then took a ready stance as his arms began to glow just a little bit brighter as he channeled a fraction more of his Semblance into generating the heat in his arms.

"Now…whose next?"

* * *

Neo back flipped swiftly over an outreached claw as the Alpha attempted to slam her off balance with a vicious sideswipe. Meanwhile, Emerald unloaded few rounds of bullets in the direction of the black floating crystal, only for the swirling snow around it to rapidly condense into a barrier of ice and harmlessly deflect the shots into a random direction away from the battle. As soon as this happened the Alpha whirled to face Emerald, completely ignoring Neo directly in front of it in favour of targeting the thing that had chosen to attack the source of its existence. Emerald quickly back stepped to avoid an attack directed at her head, the force behind it carrying slight gust of air to ruffle her hair a bit before she landed off to another corner of the rooftop.

"This isn't working, Neo!" Emerald yelled over the snarling of the Alpha Grimm they were faced with. "Whatever that thing is, we can't destroy it by normal means! Neither of our weapons can get any damage in on that weird black thing as long as it's covered by the Grimm. It's almost like there's a link between the two that it responds to every time we try to damage it. Any ideas?"

"Only one!" Neo exclaimed as she flipped a switch on her now fully-modified parasol. Where once a compartment existed that housed a blade or briefly a shoddy attempt at Torchwick's own weapon was now a revolving holster that could be switched from blade to gun mode without much time spent. "But even with this thing assembled properly it can only do a few shots before I have to reload it! I need you to get that Grimm as far from the crystal as you can so that I can get a few clear shots on the crystal! One or two won't be enough from what I've seen, so I'll need time to fire each shot since this thing isn't exactly an automatic like yours are!"

"So basically you're saying that I need to be a scapegoat." Emerald replied as Neo hopped away from another attack from the Grimm, which was now just attacking whichever of them it pleased as they had not yet taken any shots or attempts at hitting the crystal at present to attract its attention. "Great…"

"Whenever you're ready, start shooting!"

" _Next time I swear she gets to be the distraction…_ " Emerald thought to herself as she started running to the opposite end of the rooftop, taking rapid shots from her guns at the floating crystal. Barely a moment later the Alpha whirled to chase her once more in defiance of her actions, which Neo used to her advantage as she lined up the shot on the crystal mass and waited for Emerald to bring the Grimm far enough away to give her time.

The diminutive girl took a deep, calming breath as she took aimed and pulled the trigger on the first shot, a bang echoing from her weapon and jolting her arm slightly from the expected recoil as the first canister of Dust ammo unloaded and sailed towards the floating mass. Just as it started to brush against the revolving surface of snow the usual occurrence of an ice barrier occurred, however due to the higher force behind the Dust ammo it was not able to form a full barrier right away and a bit of damage was shown on the crystal in the form of a few cracks on its surface at the point of impact.

In response to this the Alpha spun to face Neo once more, only this time its actions were more erratic than usual as it seemed to scramble against the rooftop in a hurried effort to reach the newest assailant of the floating object. Even Emerald's attempt to redraw its attention proved fruitless as the beast continued to lumber in Neo's direction despite her peppering the floating ice barrier with bullets.

"Neo! It's not focusing on me again! Do something quick while you still have the chance!" Emerald yelled over the aggravated howls and snarls emanating from the Alpha as it rushed at its target.

"I've only got time for one more shot! I don't know if it'll be enough!"

"Do it anyways! What other chance do we have at this point?!"

With a steeled expression, Neo lined up the shot even as the Alpha bore down on her. As she pulled back on the trigger, everything seemed to happen as though in slow motion. As the burst of Dust propelled itself from the barrel of the weapon and sail towards the bruised crystal, the Alpha's opened slowly as it pounced face first at Neo in an effort to grab her in its open maw. With the recoil of the shot carrying her arm off angle somewhat, she was left without the ability to engage the shield portion of the parasol in time, as well as being unsure if it would even be enough to stop a full sized Alpha either. With that thought in mind, Neo shut her eyes tightly and braced herself for the searing pain or end that was about to come.

* * *

Frost looked around confused as the entire group of Grimm started howling and wobbling in place before falling to the ground in a heap, their forms lifeless and unmoving but at the same time not dissolving like Grimm normally would when they perished. Regardless, he counted his blessings as he propelled himself onto a building not far from where he saw Neo and Emerald go last before he was unable to see them and focused on the Grimm on the ground.

As he turned to face the rooftop he knew them to be on, his eyes widened as his pupils shrank at the sight he bore witness to. However, without hesitation he sprinted towards the edge of the rooftop he was currently on, his last step carrying one foot slightly over the corner of the building, causing his foot to bend slightly at the difference in surfaces. As his foot angled somewhat, his leg flashed brightly as he put a large chunk of his Semblance towards that one limb, launching himself at a rapid speed towards the battle Neo and Emerald were currently pitted in.

* * *

Emerald was unsure how to react. On the one hand, there was nothing she could do at this time to either distract the Grimm or to damage the crystal as that had already been established. But she still felt like she could have done more as the Grimm slowly neared Neo's position. With a look of defeat, her arms went slack at her sides as the thought of finally having something other than destruction and death follow her slipped away. With this, it would only be a matter of time before both herself and Frost would be overrun and torn apart just like Neo was about to. They had come all this way only to die before accomplishing anything in stopping Cinder and whatever she had planned. It would all be for nothing, just like her life had been before aiding in the fall of Beacon and the death of one of the Maidens. Even if she somehow managed to survive, there would be nowhere she could go at this point. Her life was over.

* * *

Neo's eyes clenched shut as she heard the crunch of the Grimm's claws on the rooftop mere feet away from as it took its final steps towards her demise. However, after feeling nothing for a few moments of feeling nothing, she opened her eyes in confusion only for them to widen in shock and surprise.

Standing only a foot away from her and breathing heavily was Frost, his arms and legs glowing brightly as the Alpha lay a few feet away with a shattered jaw. It was not dead however, as it slowly started climbing back to its feet as a swirl of ice and snow detached from the crystal and rebuilt the jaw that had been shattered on the Grimm's face. With a roar of rage it pounced at Frost and Neo, only for its body to sail backwards again from Frost's outstretched fist; which also appeared to be smoking as well as glowing. Without so much as a word Frost turned to give Neo and brief nod before sprinting towards the Alpha's form and slamming it with both feet in its chest and sending himself and the Grimm off of the roof and down to the ground below. After reeling from what had just happened for a moment, Neo lined up the third shot as she yelled out to get Emerald's attention.

"Emerald, once this next shot lands, attack the crystal with your blades! It should destroy it once and for all!"

And with that, she fired.

* * *

Emerald stood in mute shock, her weapons still held slack at her sides as she continued to stare in the direction of where Frost had carried the Alpha off the room in his brief moment of salvation. She barely processed Neo's words to get ready as she heard the bang of the weapon once again, but as soon as she heard the sharp crackle of ice shattering her mind returned to her as she triggered the blades in her weapons and sprinted towards the exposed black crystal. With a yell of outrage and defiance she swung both weapons in an angled hook and waited with bated breath for the telltale shattering of more crystal. What happened instead was both amazing and terrifying.

As her blades met the black mass, it seemed to stop moving altogether before pulsating wildly and sending out a shockwave of force that flattened Neo and Emerald to the rooftop. As soon as that occurred, both the forms of the assorted Grimm and the Alpha stopped everything as they rapidly lost form and sailed through the air back to the crystal. Once the final portion of Grimm essence returned to it, the crystal went from pulsating to cracking and emitting a painful shrieking noise as though it were alive and had a sense of feeling before imploding and ceasing to exist.

With a wince of pain, she lifted herself from the roof and moved over to were Neo was bringing herself to her feet as well. The two of them looked around with a sense of caution, not trusting that things were over until the realized that even the sounds of howling Grimm had ceased. With that the two of them moved to the side of the building to see what had happened to Frost. They both breathed a collective sigh of relief as they saw that he was alright, and was simply leaning against the trunk of a tree as he took deep, tired breaths and gave them a weak wave. It was over. With a nod to Neo, Emerald leapt from the roof and sprinted off to find the villagers and bring them home as Neo teleported next to Frost and began to berate him for once again leaping into harm's way…as usual.

* * *

A dark haired woman gasped for breath as her hand clutched to her chest under her lab coat, her face glistening with sweat as she activated a monitor in her workspace. Moments later, a silhouette of a man appeared on screen and spoke in a distorted voice.

"For what purpose have you called me when you should be currently occupied monitoring one of our test sites?" The silhouette spoke roughly as the woman finished catching her breath.

"Sir…I regret to…inform you…that our test subject has been destroyed…" She reached over to one end of her desk for a tall glass of some black liquid before draining it in one large gulp. This seemed to help somewhat as her breathing became less labored and her face bore less pain than it had previously. "But I do have…better news to give you. It seems that despite our subject being lost in the test…I sensed the presence of another being among those that were under our control. One that seems to match in description to one of the samples that had been sent to Vale months ago for Cinder's part in our efforts. It's here. In Atlas."

"That is…intriguing news. However you are to simply continue maintaining your cover there. Do not interfere with the trespassers regardless of what you may otherwise wish, Miss Amala. We have other operatives in the field for that. Continue your research as you find the time, but otherwise do not let those around you discover your true efforts. Dismissed."

With a grunt of disgust, the dark haired woman named Amala turned off the monitor before going to the lift in the laboratory. After waiting for it to ascend and flipping a few hidden switched to hide the presence of said elevator, she opened the door to the outside of the building she was currently occupying. Her eyes widened as she noticed two figures near a tree amidst the snow, the only two around at present. It seemed that no one had returned yet, but that did not matter. She had her cover to operate under, and her orders were as such. With a deep breath she put on a fake concerned look as she approached the two figures.

"Are…are they gone? Is it over? Is it safe?"

"I…I think so," one of them, clearly a young girl, stated as she stood up from beside the other figure. "Do you know what they were?"

"I don't, I'm sorry. They attacked us out of nowhere but I had no time to flee like the others since I was inside the clinic going over stock. My name is Doctor Amalie. What are yours?"

The other figure, this time a boy, stood up slowly and with a grunt as he turned to regard "Amalie" as well. "This is Neo, and I'm Frost. Was there anyone else stuck here? Or were you the only one?"

"I was the only one," the doctor began as she put on a false look of hope and wonder at the intervention of these accursed Huntsmen for appearances sake. She reached forward to shake each of their hands as a show of thanks, like most people would when saved from danger. "Thank you so much for coming when you did, I don't know what I would have done had you not arrived sooner!" As her hands left Neo's and came in contact with Frost's, the boy winced in pain as he yanked his hands back sharply as thought burned.

"Sorry, just sore after fighting all of those Grimm back there." The boy stated with an apologetic look.

"And that's what happens when you take off your gauntlets like that! What did I tell you about getting into danger!" The girl reprimanded the boy, though Amala paid little attention as she looked down at the hand that had brushed up against the boy's before he had recoiled with interest.

After all, she had felt the same burning sensation as well. Only…

She was more familiar with what it meant.


	16. Chapter 16

**So, now that I've beaten a playthrough of Mass Effect Andromeda- despite a couple glitches I found that actually forced me to either replay a bunch or just start over, as annoying as that was- I can honestly say that it is still a fantastic game despite all of the crap a lot of people seem to be giving it. If you're a fan of the Mass Effect series I highly recommend you give the game at least one playthrough even if you don't do it multiple times through for different choices (which I know I will be eventually).**

 **So on that note, I am once again able to focus on things other than that game and return to updating this story as per my 2 weeks I've been going by as of late with the exception of the 3 weeks I took since the last update with Andromeda's release occupying my time.**

 **As per always, leave any thoughts/criticisms in a review or if you just have any questions shoot me up a PM. I do quite enjoy talking to people about writing among other things, so don't be afraid to hit me up. Otherwise, enjoy the newest chapter!**

* * *

"Ugh…" Frost grunted as he attempted to scratch his arms underneath the wrappings on his forearms to no avail. "I know that I hurt my arms and hands a bit fighting the Grimm, but were the bandages and blood samples really worth it? My Semblance will have them healed pretty soon anyways and this itches like hell."

"Shush, Cobalt." Neo stated authoritatively as she continued walking ahead of him with a huff, still frustrated over Frost's reckless actions once again. "Doctor Amalie said that she had to make sure there was no side effects of the direct contact you had with Grimm since people USUALLY use weapons or armor to protect themselves from the Grimm." After this admission, Neo turned to give Frost a disgruntled look as she held her fists to her hips in the attempt to look imposing.

It only worked to a small extent due to her short stature, as noted by the rolling of Frost's eyes and a light smirk on his face.

Regardless, Neo carried on in her pushing. "Why would you do that anyways? You normally have no issue fighting Grimm using your Semblance or weapons before. What changed?"

Frost deadpanned Neo for a moment before blinking as the black and red reappeared in his left eye. "Remember this?" Frost stated as he pointed one finger at his changed eye. "We're lucky I managed to get enough of a grip to keep myself under control and keep my eye from doing this all of the time, but there is literally Grimm inside of me. And I think that despite the fact that I was killing those Grimm by heating my arms- which I couldn't do while wearing my gauntlets because it would block the heat too much- the direct contact with them hurt my arms too much because of the connection with the Grimm I have now. Why it hurt me, I still don't know but it was the only thing I could do."

"Frost…I had no idea…" Neo gasped as she reverted back to referring Frost with his preferred title. "Why didn't you stop me?"

"Because you had to let it out of your system. Even I could tell that much from your rigid posture." Emerald stated from slightly behind the two of them. "So are we good now? I'd like to get to Atlas soon so we can rest a bit before finding that princess of a Schnee."

Frost raised a finger in rebuttal to Emerald's comment, but lowered it a moment later as he shrugged. "Can't really comment on that one. Not entirely wrong on that one to be honest given Weiss' usual temperament."

With that, the three of them continued trudging along the path as they continued to follow the route to Atlas from the map they had with them.

* * *

Later that day they finally noticed the spires of the city of Atlas on the horizon, a new hope instilled in them as they sped up their pace somewhat as they neared the gate to the city. Their pace slowed somewhat as they neared it however as they saw the numerous guards- both robotic and human standing armed in front of a large, closed metal gate. The three looked at each other uneasily as they paused for a moment before committing to their path and approached a group of the guards standing watch.

"Excuse me!" Frost yelled out as they approached the guards, who seemed to stand straighter and poised their weapons at the sudden noise before relaxing their posture somewhat at the sign of humans- but not entirely. "We're looking to get into the city with word about an attack of Grimm on a village about two days from here that was outside the ordinary and need to speak with the Atlas leadership about it."

"And why should we just let in three children who could be looking for a quick buck by scamming the people of Atlas?" One of the guards spoke gruffly as he stepped forward to address them. "We've seen plenty of your kind from the poorer villages on the continent trying to get in and pocket some supplies or wealth to take for your benefit. We'll need more proof than that to let you three nobodies in."

Neo put a hand on Emerald's arm as her form bristled with rage at the comment about thieving given her background. Frost meanwhile, angled his eyes somewhat to make sure everything was okay before continuing to address the guard in front of them.

"We came here from Vale about a week or so after Beacon fell to the simultaneous attacks from the Grimm and the White Fang. We also were hoping to get some help or answers about where to find those responsible."

"And you think Atlas is responsible, is that it?" The guard stood straighter as his companions raised their weapons in response. "We've heard the like from other outposts about refugees blaming us for what happened even as we do our best to accommodate their sorry asses for losing their homes. But none have entered the city of Atlas itself to spout such heresy to the fine people of this kingdom. Get out of my sight before we run you through for stating such heinous lies!"

Emerald stepped forward and out of Neo's reach as she came to stand directly in front of the guard. "Hey! No one said you assholes were responsible for what happened! But I don't blame people for bad mouthing you if this is how you 'accommodate' those looking for food and shelter after what happened to them!"

"How dare you, you insolent brat..." The guard started reaching for his own blade as Neo stepped forward to grab onto both Emerald and Frost's arm hurriedly. Before he could swing in response to Emerald's retort however, the three of them disappeared in a flash of light as they transported further up the road and out of sight of the guards.

* * *

"What were you two thinking?!" Neo berated the others as she pulled on her hair with a frustrated look. Emerald stood with her back against a tree ad her arms crossed in front of her chest without a look of remorse on her face while Frost held a hand to his chin in thought, scratching lightly at the light stubble that had begun to form on his chin over time in their travels. "Really? No apologies for what happened?"

"Why should we apologize for some guards that just personify the self-righteous attitude everyone has come to associate with the majority of Atlas?" Emerald retorted with a snort of disgust from her position. "They're the ones who should be sorry considering Frost never said anything about them being at fault anyways. They just jumped to conclusions just like people like them tend to. No skin off my back."

"Frost?" Neo asked with a slightly lighter tone as most of her frustration was directed at Emerald's handling of confronting the guard-captain, as they assumed him to be since he had stepped forward to speak with them.

"…" Frost was quiet for a moment as he took a deep breath and turned to face Neo. "…I have to agree with Emerald, to be honest. They overreacted, even if she didn't help a lot by antagonizing the man." Emerald started to shift her position somewhat in response to Frost's comment. "But! It likely would have fallen to that happening anyways given the way he was acting. It just means we need to find another way into the city without being seen."

"What about just waiting until nightfall and then finding an empty point in the guards before having Neo teleport us past the wall?" Emerald asked curiously.

"That won't work, Em." Neo responded curtly. "I can't teleport somewhere without seeing what it looks like first, remember? That means since I haven't been into Atlas before I can't just teleport into there like the wall doesn't exist."

"Then how on earth does your teleporting even work if you can't just throw yourself into random places? How on earth was that useful for the heists that Torchwick used to set the two of you on?" Emerald questioned with an confused look on her face.

"Because he would get blueprints and camera feeds of the place before having us move in so that Neo had the layout of the place already predetermined to move in. We can't do the same here unless we had an exact breakdown of even a portion of Atlas to teleport in with. Plus since we don't know what kind of patrols there are in the city itself, it's like shooting for a proverbial needle in a field of hay stacks. Way too many unknowns for us to risk." Frost replied.

"So what are our options then?" Neo asked the other two as they continued standing off the side of the road.

As Neo and Frost both lost themselves in thought, Emerald gave a frustrated groan before stalking away for a brief respite and to think on her own as she usually did. Thankfully, since she walked into better sight of the road itself, she was able to notice something approaching slowly in the distance. A cart being carried slowly by a few horses that was being transported by one man and a pair of what appeared to by guards.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Emerald yelled back to Frost and Neo, knowing that making the joke once again about their closeness would immediately attract their attention. "I just got a plan, but you'll need to trust me and move fast, got it?"

"Just as long as it doesn't involve stealing or killing, I think we're fine!"

Frost yelled back in response as the two of them approached Emerald's position.

"Frost!" Neo snapped as she whacked his closer arm with an open hand slap, to which he winced slightly with a sharp intake of breath.

"Just move on my signal, got it?"

And with a nod of their heads, the three of them quickly went over Emerald's plan.

* * *

The old man riding the cart took a deep breath of the cool Atlas air as he continued on his way to the city of Atlas to transport some goods from the port city. His day had been relatively quiet, as the roads closer to Atlas tended to be due to the heavy defenses designed to repel roaming packs of Grimm that seldom seemed to pass to begin with. His breath filled the air with a light fog as he thought about which bar he would stop at when he got into the city before remembering that the good ones were on the ports and not in a city filled with so many snobs and busybodies. Though those same snobs paid him for his goods, so there were no real complaints to be had. A few moments later however, his cart stumbled to a halt as the horses and guards both stopped ahead of him.

"What seems to be the holdup, men?" The wizened man snapped from atop the seat on the cart.

"There's a little girl, sir. Just standing in the road and shivering." One of the men stated with an unsure tone as he turned to face his employer. "What should we do?"

"This close to Atlas? The hell is a lone child doing here, unless it got out when the guards weren't looking again." The old man huffed in indignation. "Damned fools always seem to mess up something whenever I come by this end of the city. Wish there was more entrances to the damned place sometimes." After mumbling these comments to himself he looked back at the supplies littering the large space. After spotting a larger looking fur blanket he grabbed it and tossed it the bodyguard asking questions. "Give this to the child to keep it warm at least. You know the policy those damned fools have about unregistered entries to the city. Tightwads, the lot of 'em."

The guard, after retrieving the blanket from the man, slowly dismounted from his horse as he approached the young child with the blanket held out peacefully. Just as he neared her however, she ran off into the woods without a sound, leaving the man puzzled and slightly annoyed after going to the trouble. He then returned back to his horse and passed the blanket back to the old man with a shrug of his shoulders.

The old man scoffed as he snatched the blanket from the man's outstretched hand and tossed it into the back of the cart with a backwards glance. What he didn't notice was the way the blanket as it shifted somewhat after landing- as the three new stowaways adjusted it to cover their forms as they squished further amongst the supplies to hide their forms from the guards outside the gate.

* * *

"Honestly, I really didn't expect that to work." Frost stated from his place atop one of the beds in their room at the first inn they had gone to after sneaking off the cart at their earliest opportunity. "There were so many ways that could have gone wrong between the chances we were taking about how they would approach things. What if that had been a fruit cart or something?"

"Then we would have either ended up covered in squished fruit or waited for the next person to come along. Though knowing our luck it probably would have been a while that we'd be waiting." Emerald stated casually as she bit into a ripe apple she had gotten as part of her meal after they had paid for a pair of rooms across from one another. Frost and Neo may have been familiar with living in the same space despite opposite genders, but there was no way Emerald was having anyone other than females sleeping in the same place that she would be changing or washing up in. No way in hell. "Well, we're in the city now. So what's our next stop before going after the wayward Schnee?"

"I think our best bet is to try and find Ironwood and see if he knows more about what went down in Vale before we go to get Weiss." Frost grumbled slightly as he continued. "I just hope that we don't run into more problems before we get that far."

"Knowing our luck, we'll probably have to improvise something that will require Emerald's, mine, or both of our abilities with illusions and misdirection to get around." Neo stated simply as she stood next to the one window in the room to see what the streets of Atlas were like without them sneaking around for a moment.

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see then. Either way, I'm going to take a nap." Frost remarked as he reclined onto one of the beds in the room despite Emerald's protests. Within moments a light snoring could be heard coming from his form as he laid back against the headboard of the bed with his arms behind his head and one knee propped up as well.

"Goddamnit. I wish I could fall asleep as fast as he could somedays." Emerald mumbled loud enough for her and Neo to hear but not to potentially wake up Frost despite her protests.

"We've all had to deal with a lot lately, especially him. I think it's a good thing he can still fall asleep despite that." Neo replied with a light smile as she waked over to the other bed in the room. "Come on. You can share mine for now while we all get a quick nap in."

"Fine." Emerald resigned with a small smile of thanks to the shorter girl.

"But no cuddling. I don't do that."


	17. Chapter 17

**First off, yes I know I'm still bad at updating regularly every two weeks despite my previous promise. And though part of that was me getting a little wrapped in some games that I've been meaning to catch up on, part of it was also figuring out how to do this chapter even with some ideas in mind as to how it would go. Originally it was going to be a fair bit different, but then I realized that I could do what I did instead and do a bit more expanding on things for later use in the story. I definitely did not intend for this to turn into a two-part set again, as this chapter only covers a portion of what I want to do. Hopefully though it is enjoyable and somewhat informative for you guys, and I will talk to you all again through this story sometime soon when I come up with the second part to this. It's there in my head, I just need to write it down first.**

* * *

"Hey Emerald, are you sure it's a good idea to just leave Frost here while we head out to find some info?" Neo looked over towards Frost's sleeping form nervously as she and Emerald put on their gear by the entrance to one of the rooms they were using.

Emerald took a deep breath as she finished clasping her weapons onto her belt before turning to give Neo a straight look, hiding the frustration she felt as her memories once again went to the number of times Mercury would ask numerous questions to fill the air back when she was forced to work with him. It took a large portion of her self-control to not want to either lash out or smack Neo like she would the silver-haired boy, and for that she was glad she had some restraint.

"I already explained this earlier when I first suggested this. With everything going on with him and the fact that I'm willing to bet his hands and arms are still a little sore from that pack of weird Grimm a few days ago, it wouldn't hurt to give him some time off while we do the boring part. Scoping out places was always the most annoying part of living on the street as a kid even after I figured out my Semblance, but we still need to have an idea of what's going on here in Atlas before we can even do anything." As she finished, she reached over for Neo's parasol and tossed it over with a light swing of her arm, to which Neo nearly fumbled and dropped in her distracted state. "Besides, you and I need to have another talk between the two of us today to try and settle a few things."

Neo's head whirled to face Emerald's with a look of confusion as she overheard the last part of the words directed at her. "What on earth do you mean by "settle a few things", Emerald?" Emerald ignored the question without a cursory glance as she turned to open the door to the room before walking out into the hall, the door left open as an obvious sign for Neo to follow as was their plan if she wanted to find out. Neo gave a groan of annoyance as she started marching off after her, but not without gently closing the door to the room so as to not disturb Frost.

Little did they know, he had been feigning sleep and had overheard the entire conversation before they left to go about their business. Despite that, he simply remained in place with a sigh, his back facing the door to the room as he closed his eyes once more to return to a restless sleep.

* * *

Frost looked around silently as he saw a multitude of people mill about an ordinary village, their lives pleasant and happy as evidenced by the peaceful expressions on their faces. On one side of him, a man bargained with a stall merchant over the price of some bread while the other side held a small group of children playing around a set of toys littering the ground. Frost was intrigued as to what they happened to be doing, and so he went over to examine the game they were taking part in. As he approached, he was surprised to see that it was an old game he could vaguely remember playing when he was a child, but had never once remembered playing it in the orphanage with Neo or any of the other orphans in all of the time he had spent there.

His vision blurred for a moment as his balance started to deteriorate, his arm reflexively reaching out to find something to stand against, only to feel it press up against a human beings chest. With shock he turned to apologize to the man he had accidentally bumped into, only for his words to hold in this throat in a tight lump as he witnessed the man in front of him.

It was the spitting image of his father- 10 years dead.

* * *

Neo and Emerald silently moved about in the crowd of individuals that filled the Atlas streets, very few actually talking and rather walking with a defined purpose as their eyes continued forwards, never once deviating from their path except for the odd few that Neo and Emerald disapproving looks.

"And here I was hoping that the Schnee princess' attitude was just from the family she was born into." Emerald stated with barely disguised disgust. "Now I get that this whole damn place is stuck-up and boring."

Neo didn't pay the citizens of Atlas much notice as they clambered about, her eyes and ears more focused on some indication of either the location of the Schnee mansion or the Atlas Military Headquarters. If they were to find any leads or information those would be the two best places to check. Unfortunately a place as ordered and plain as Atlas didn't allow for too many buildings to truly stand out, and so the two of them continued on the hopes of some clue coming up soon.

Emerald, however, had different ideas as she pulled Neo to the side into what seemed to be a restaurant of some kind before motioning over to an empty table despite Neo's protests at the sudden interruption of her focus as well as the sidetracked situation. The green-haired girl was having none of it however as she rolled her eyes and essentially dragged the more petite girl over to the table.

"Emerald, we have more important things to do right now than stop for a break!" Neo exclaimed in a hushed yell so as to not disturb the other patrons of the building. This did not stop her from giving a brief thank you to the waitress as she stopped by to fill a pair of glasses of water for the two of them as well as leave a pair of menus before walking off to help some of the other customers.

"Then get up and leave if that's what you want." Emerald stated plainly as she cracked open a menu and started scanning through the options, her face rolling through expressions of disgust and interest as she looked over the options.

Neo was about to do just that as her stomach grumbled audibly enough for the two of them to both hear it. Neo blushed slightly as she attempted to look at the menu in a feigned look of poise as Emerald gave her a sideways glance and a subtle smirk. It was quiet like this for a few minutes as they looked over the options before both closed their menus, confident in the choices they would be making for their meals. They both gave their orders to the waitress as she returned a few minutes later after helping a few other guests and then left with a polite nod and their menus as the two turned to face each other, though this time Emerald had more determined look on her face with her arms crossed on the table. Neo groaned as she now realized where this was going.

"Alright, you win. You got me here to somewhere we can talk without Frost bothering us. What do you want?"

Emerald simply looked at Neo for a few moments, confusing the smaller girl as she had thought that Emerald would have immediately started talking or asking questions the moment she finished speaking. Neo instead decided to reach over for her water to take a drink.

"What are your feelings for Frost?"

The question was so blunt and so sudden that Neo had to struggle not to spit out the water in surprise, instead choking on it for a moment as a few tables looked over briefly to see what the sudden noise was about. Their attention didn't last long as Neo waved her arms in a way to say that everything was fine as she gained her breath before glaring back at Emerald.

"What was that for?! You couldn't have waited for me to finish my drink before asking that?"

Emerald shrugged as she leaned back somewhat to lessen the imposing look she was putting off at the moment, one arm leaving the table to sit by her side while one remained relaxed at the elbow as she leaned her head into her hand to prop it up with a curious look.

"Answer the question, Neo."

Neo was once again taken aback by the bluntness of the statement before composing herself and thinking for a moment before giving her simple response.

"We're friends. I've told you this before. We grew up together ever since we met at the orphanage and we never left the others side apart from the whole situation with Torchwick."

Emerald reached over to take a brief sip of her own glass of water before turning back to face Neo. "I don't believe you. And I think you don't believe yourself either." Neo's expression faltered somewhat under Emerald's scrutinizing gaze. "Now tell me the truth."

Neo tried to keep her mask up, but under the toll of Emerald's gaze and the strings pulling at her heart, it cracked and fell away. She sighed as she looked towards the table with a sad expression.

"I've known Frost ever since we both grew up in the village," she started as Emerald's eyes widened for a moment with surprise at Neo now being honest after so much pushing. She refused to interrupt and risk losing this chance to get to know the girl more however as she let her continue, "From even before the place was destroyed by the Grimm and we were forced into childcare in Vale- the closest major city to where we used to live. We practically knew each other since we were born, since I grew up in the house next door to his and we met barely after we were both a couple years old. I know we have good times now every once in a while, but this was a time that he was always so happy and carefree about everything. It was infectious and inspiring just how cheerful he was when we were younger. I always saw him as the brother I never had growing up with how he always looked out for me. Any time that one of the other kids would start picking on me for either my eyes or my hair he would be right there telling them to stop because it was hurting my feelings and asking how they would feel if someone treated them like that. He was a real knight in shining armor and most of the other kids, aside from the bullies, looked up to him because of it."

"You loved him." Emerald stated simply.

Neo's eyes watered as a pair of tears escaped. "I never STOPPED loving him. It just changed how. At first he was an older brother, but over the last few years, I've felt so much closer to him than ever. After the Grimm destroyed everything he was so broken. I was willing to give anything to bring back that smile he used to wear when we were kids. Every time I see it now I know it's just a mask covering up the pain and torture that goes through his mind every day. I don't think he ever fully accepted what happened despite what he said. Even I didn't for a while, but I also needed to be there for him and the other kids as they grew up without families."

"But you lost your parents as well. Why weren't you so broken up over it?"

Neo shook her head as she wiped away tears from her cheeks and eyes. "I never had a dad, at least not that I knew. I only grew up with a mom, but I eventually accepted that she was gone and I couldn't do anything to change that. I had to grow up and be the mother figure for the younger kids with how busy the lady that owned the orphanage was. I cried my tears over it, but I didn't let it stop me from moving forward."

"But what about Frost's incessant need to kill Grimm?"

"It's a coping mechanism for him. He blamed the Grimm, rightfully so, for what happened. But I think at the age we were he accidentally associated him losing his parents to the Grimm existing. And so he built up a false idea that killing the Grimm would bring back some of the joy in his life and thus he became dead-set on becoming a Huntsman. I've tried to convince him it won't bring his parents back, but it's too late for me to change that now. It's too hardwired into his brain to change it without risking breaking him again. Plus from what I can tell I don't think he even remembers anything from before the village fell. He treated me like a stranger for a while when we first arrived at the orphanage."

Emerald nervously looked away from Neo for a moment, regret building up over how much she now knew that she wished she didn't. She had thought that by prying out Neo's true feelings would help but it only served to open old wounds that hadn't properly healed. She silently moved one hand to rest on Neo's in quiet comfort as the smaller girl finished drying the tears from her eyes.

"Is this a bad time?" The sound of someone beside them startled the two as they looked over to the waitress who awkwardly looked back and forth between the two of them.

Neo and Emerald looked to each other before turning back to the waitress with small, apologetic smiles on their faces. It was Neo who spoke up as they moved to pay for the food.

"We'll take those to go. We need to be on our way anyways."

* * *

Frost stumbled backwards slightly as he nearly failed to find his footing on the ground beneath him at the sight he was seeing. Despite his hazy memory of so many years previous, he had never forgotten the faces of his parents even after they had been dead so long.

"S-sorry for…bumping into you like that."

Things only seemed to get stranger however as the man didn't even seem to acknowledge his apology and only seemed to continue looking forwards with a smile…almost as though looking through Frost rather than at him. With that thought in mind the white-haired teen turned around to look behind him only for another blast from his past to reach his view. His mother, still as beautiful as the image he had of her in his mind. And a younger version of himself, running gleefully into his father's arms as he was hoisted up into the air and placed on the man's shoulders in a piggyback.

Frost tried to remember anything about a day like this, but nothing would come up no matter how hard he tried, only causing his head to start pulsing with the oncoming signs of a headache as he struggled to remember anything from before the day the village burned around him. He had known for a long time that he had somehow lost his memories of these days and was thankful that he could at least recall his parents' faces, but no matter what he couldn't bring back anything else. Choosing to forget trying again for the time being, he turned back to the scene of his father and mother standing there with him among them, all smiling as though nothing was wrong. He saw his father's mouth move, but heard no sound from them as they started walking down the road in the direction that he and his mother had been standing. As he looked around before following them he noticed that everything else seemed to be quiet now as well, despite the fact that he could hear a man bartering before and the kids playing on the side of the street. With a final, wary look around he turned to follow the younger version of his family down the road to their destination.

What lay in store was unknown, even for him, especially if this happened to be a memory he had been trying to dredge up after so long.


	18. Chapter 18

**First things first: I don't know if anyone got an email notification about Ch.17 being released due to FF email weirdness at times since I didn't get a notification myself. So if some of you haven't read it yet, go back and read it first since it builds into this chapter. DO IT NAOW.**

 **In other news, I actually thought I had been late on this update until I realized that it was just earlier last week that I had posted the last chapter to this story. Go figure, I guess. I'll take a win in that basket since I had been distracted earlier this week with getting my Dark Souls board game out of its packaging since it arrived back on...I think it was Monday since I opened it back on Wednesday on my last day off and I worked on way, that random word aside, I hope you guys like this chapter as I loved writing this last two-parter for the sake of some world-building for the sake of the story for later on. Until the next update, enjoy yourselves!**

* * *

Frost's eyes wandered as he followed after the vision of his parents and younger self down the road through the village. His memories of the town had been so thoroughly tarnished by the horrid thoughts of the destruction and agony caused by the Grimm that he had forgotten how pleasant and serene it had been before it had collapsed. Tears welled up in his eyes as the pleasant feelings of a life free of pain and torture once again came to mind, of a time when he still had a family that cared for him and was always there for him. His sad smile lifted as the tears slowly descended down his cheeks and he turned his eyes back to face the memory he had been following.

And his breath hitched.

* * *

Neo and Emerald continued walking down the streets of Atlas in search of some clue as to where they could find either Weiss or the Atlas Military Headquarters. Despite being places that should stand out given their importance, the city of Atlas itself had buildings that were so similar and plain that finding anything at all was a challenge. Even if they were buildings that were likely to be larger and more ostentatious, the fact that every building had the same shades of white and gray it made it very difficult not to start blending shapes together into one giant blob of buildings.

Thankfully, that didn't stop signs and notices to be something that stood out against the buildings as they came across a large billboard announcing an event to be held at the Schnee mansion. Upon reading what the event was to be however, the two of them grimaced at what was likely to be a trying experience even if it did offer them an opportunity to gain precious intel or even come face-to-face with any of the people they were looking for.

"I mean, it works…" Emerald's voice held the same regret her face did as she spoke, "…I think we may have to use some sort of disguise to get in though. I doubt that what we have on us is going to be considered formal attire for something like this."

Neo's face twisted as she struggled to find the words to respond to Emerald's statement before finally coming up with something. "You're right I suppose…but…really? A gala? To celebrate the independence and safety of Atlas? It's like they're trying to outright ignore what happened in Vale or that they're doing it out of spite since Vale sided against them in the Great War despite it being their very king that saved everyone's sorry butts."

"From what I heard working with Cinder, Atlas has always been a kingdom proud of its own accomplishments and never really acknowledging to the other kingdoms of the contributions they've made to society. I guess that was one thing that wasn't a complete lie." Emerald frowned in disappointment at finding that Cinder had at least been honest about one thing amidst all of the lies about doing things for the benefit of the people of Remnant. Destroying the capital of a kingdom didn't accomplish anything but collapse the entire structure of a place that had once been a safe haven for so many.

"I guess we'll have to go do some clothes shopping." Neo stated, snapping Emerald out of her chain of thought. "As much as I can use my Semblance to change my own appearance, I can't exactly do the same to others. Plus we'll need to get a suit or something for Frost, despite his protests at wearing anything fancy."

Emerald nodded in agreement as the two walked off to find a nearby clothing store to prepare for the event. A smirk rose on her face as a clever thought crossed her mind, her eyes briefly angling to look at Neo for a brief moment before turning back to the front as they looked around.

* * *

Frost's mouth hung open as he looked at what stood before him.

His old home, in pristine condition, with a few trees in the yard that gently swayed in the wind. A pair of small white rosebushes sat neatly cared for just on the two sides of the front door, the petals almost shining in the light of day as it reflected off of the small drops of dew that lay upon them. That alone had him surprised, but it was not what had him in shock.

No, it was the sight of a woman with long champagne pink hair standing next to a young girl. A young girl…that just so happened to look like a younger version of Neo with her normal her normal pink and brown hair in separate pigtails.

Frost's mouth flapped open and closed as he was unable to find words for what he saw in front of him. As far as his memories had told him, he had only first met Neo shortly after the attack on the village as they had been taken with everyone else that had gotten to safety from the attack before being taken to Vale to find new homes and work in the big city. But this scene told him otherwise unless it was just an overly detailed dream. But no, this felt too familiar to be anything but a past memory.

The younger version of himself motioned to his father to let him down, to which he was and promptly walked over to Neo before taking her hand and going around the house to the backyard to likely go play. Frost would have stayed to try and hear words from his parents and who was likely Neo's mother or even to etch further in his mind they're exact appearance, but he felt his feet drawn in the direction that his and Neo's younger selves had gone, and thus he followed after them into the backyard.

His eyes roamed around the rather plain area as he looked at the bushes and plants that had naturally grown around the area. His head quickly spun around as he suddenly heard the sounds of children laughing, finally hearing a sound again as he faced the younger children playing on a pair of swings hanging from a sturdy tree branch. Why could he suddenly hear things now, when the entire time he had gone from noticing his family to now he had been unable to properly hear anything? He was not given much time to think on that as he heard the kids begin to talk to each other, his ears picking up what they were saying as though he were directly next to them. Supposedly, this was a younger version of himself so if this was a memory then it made sense that his brain would recall what Neo had said to him he supposed.

"Did your dad just get back today?" The younger version of Neo asked Frost's child self. Frost fought to hold back a gleeful laugh at how squeaky her voice used to sound. If he could remember this when he woke up he was not letting her live that down.

"Most likely." His younger self replied. At that moment Frost's desire to bring up Neo's squeaky voice died as he heard his own prepubescent voice sound through his ears. Maybe that was a thought best kept to himself. "I mean, every time he gets back from visiting Vale he comes right back to find me and mom before we go home. I don't know how she always knows when he gets back though. You'd think that she could just wait for him to come to the house, but every time we go out to meet him halfway through town since he has to arrive from the other side."

"Does it really matter though? You both always seem so happy when he gets back…" Neo was silent for a moment as the two of them kept swinging before she mumbled out a few words more. "…I wish my mom and I had that…"

Young Frost immediately skidded to a stop as he planted both feet firmly into the ground to stop his forward momentum as he turned to face Neo with a straight face. "Hey. I already told you before; you don't need to get sad about that again. You dad may have died a few years ago defending the town from a pack of Grimm, but you and your mom still have me and my family, remember? The four of them were all part of a team back in Mistral before they came here for a "change in lifestyle" I think was the way my mom put it. He's a hero, and no one in town will ever let that be forgotten."

"I know. I just wish it hadn't been him that had to be the hero if that's what it meant." Neo said as a pair of tears fell from her eyes.

Frost's heart clenched in his chest at the sight of a younger version of Neo in such a sad state, as well as him forgetting who his and Neo's parents had used to be. He had a lot to apologize for when he saw her after waking up, that much was certain. But apparently his younger self wasn't done as he hopped down from his own swing and stood in front of Neo's to stop her from swinging. His eyebrow rose as he tried to remember what he had done in this moment and why he was suddenly getting such a warm feeling in his chest.

"Then I'll make sure that a hero isn't someone that has to sacrifice themselves to protect others. I'll make sure that no one has to die from a Grimm attack ever again!"

Neo raised an eyebrow inquisitively at Frost's outburst. "And how are you going to do that without a Semblance like Huntsman use to fight them?"

"I just haven't learned what mine is yet, but I'll figure it out soon! My dad said that someday soon he's going to unlock my Aura so that he can start training me to fight and help people!"

Neo smiled somewhat at Frost's determined expression as he stood with a heroic pose with fists on his hips as he stood in front of her. Then, to both of the Frost's surprise, she leaned forward before giving his younger self a light peck on the cheek before rushing away with a bright blush on her face that matched the one of his younger self.

Frost's mind raced as he processed what he had just seen. A younger version of him had just proclaimed his desire to be a Huntsman, something he had also done after the village had fallen to Grimm. It seemed as though that the one thing that had stuck in his mind was his desire to stop the Grimm, but the reasoning had been twisted in his mind from all of the pain that the attack had caused. He had even forgotten about being friends with Neo growing up before everything had happened, and forgetting what their parents had looked like, even from the brief glimpses he had gotten from them. But most of all…he had forgotten just how close their two families had been.

* * *

His eyes slowly opened as he lay on a bed of tossed sheets and a pillow wet with some of his own tears. He slowly got up and turned so that he was sat across the side of the bed, his back hunched as his arms hung across his legs in a thoughtful pose. After a few moments of thinking to himself, he calmly got up without a sound and fixed the sheets on the bed before leaving the room to return to his own to get cleaned up after his extended rest.

Hopefully, he would have time to think for a bit in the shower before Neo and Emerald got back and came knocking on his door.

* * *

After a couple hours of torturous attempts at trying on dresses before finally coming to a conclusion, Neo and Emerald finished their return to the inn they were currently staying at, Neo grumbling slightly to herself while Emerald carried a satisfied grin on her face as the two carried separate bags up the stairs to their room.

"Why did you have to be so stubborn about getting me to try on dresses as well? I already said that I can just make something up with my Semblance instead of having to pay for it." Neo remarked to Emerald as the two hung their individual dresses in the closet that was in their room.

"Because, and I explained this at the store, if you want something that makes you look good you should trust the opinions of those around you as well when doing it because otherwise you'll just go with something decent based on your own choices. Unless you're a total spotlight hog in which case you'll go overboard in how it looks." Emerald stated matter-of-factly. "I'm not saying that you aren't good with your illusions and appearance changes, but they're always so plain and blend in with a crowd. You need something that fits you better than a disguise is something that just looks good."

"…I still hate you." Neo replied as the two calmly left their room before going next door to Frost's to knock on the door to see if he was there.

"Come in." Frost's voice sounded from further inside the room as the two looked at each other strangely before Emerald reached for the handle to open it and found it unlocked. As the two entered, they found that the room was oddly empty until Neo pointed out the slightly waving curtain coming from the other side of the room, signaling that Frost was out on the balcony overlooking the town.

As the two calmly walked over to the open doorway, they both stepped out to see Frost in an oddly calm manor looking up towards the sky with both arms crossed over the railing of the balcony. His eyes turned slightly, acknowledging their presence before he returned to looking out over the buildings and environment they were currently in. Neo and Emerald both looked at each other with a continued confusion before shrugging and moving to stand over the balcony in a similar manner.

"You know…" Frost started slowly, the other two looking over to see what he was about to say. "…this town is really bland. It could use something to make it stand out more. There's too many buildings and not even nature. I wonder if it's why Weiss was always so short-tempered at Beacon for a while."

"I mean, anyone looking at this day in and day out would get pretty bored. Might explain why everyone's so quiet in the streets compared to Vale at least." Emerald offhandedly remarked as Frost's mouth curved upwards somewhat at the comment. "Plus white and gray are just boring colours."

"White's not that bad of a colour if it's used right." Frost commented. "I mean take roses for example. The red ones are so common that a white one is almost rare in comparison depending on where you are. Even some here and there to match the colours of the buildings wouldn't be bad."

Neo's eyes didn't leave Frost's face as he spoke, her eyes focused as he continued talking. Emerald nearly made mention of it, had Neo not interrupted her by swatting her hand as it raised and gestured her to look at Frost as well. As she did, she too noticed what Neo was so fixated on.

The far off look in Frost's eyes, as well as the lone tear falling down his face.

"Maybe some white rosebushes here and there…and they could use a park for the younger kids so they don't grow up in such a bland environment. But then they'd need something to play on as well…maybe a swing set or something." Neo whirled to talk to Emerald in hushed tones as she yanked the green-haired girl down to whisper closer to her ear.

"I don't know what's going on, but he is describing in perfect detail his home back from when we were kids in the village. I don't know what's going on." Neo stated worriedly to Emerald.

"Maybe he's finally remembering something? I mean you did say this was years ago and it was bound to happen eventually that he'd remember something."

"But why now? What happened that he would suddenly start describing those things unless he did remember something?"

Frost's voice broke through to their hushed conversation. "Maybe it's because Emerald's right. Maybe I did remember."

Neo turned to face Frost with a look of shock and relief. "How much?"

"Not everything, not yet at least." Frost smiled as he pulled Neo into a hug. "But I remembered enough. Neo, I am so sorry that I forgot about our families and our past. Not only was it an insult to their memory but it was rude of me to just forget all of the time we had spent growing up together. I promise that from now on, it'll be about protecting people again, not about aimlessly destroying the Grimm like it has been for the last few years. That's not what the team out parents came from stood for. And it won't be what I stand for either. Not after today."

Neo's smile grew to nearly bursting as tears welled up in her eyes before she buried her face in Frost's chest, her arms wrapping tighter around him as she fought to strengthen the hug she was already in. After so long, the Frost she had known was starting to come back.

And she'd never been happier in her life because of it.


	19. Chapter 19

The next few days were fairly uneventful as the three of them waited for the day of the gala that was being held in the Schnee Manor later that week, after Neo and Emerald explained their plan to Frost after Emerald gave them a bit of time to reconnect. Frost's face took on an ugly look of disgust at the mention that he would have to dress-up, but after explaining why they couldn't just go into an event like that with their regular attire he surrendered to the other two. Despite trying to find more information after that about the goings on in Atlas, nothing stood out in terms of information of either the state of the Atlas Military after Vale's collapse or Weiss' whereabouts in the city. The entire place was oddly quiet about the fact that the heiress to the Schnee family was back home.

* * *

"I thought you said you still knew my measurements, Neo," Frost grumbled to himself as he struggled to fix the snug collar around his neck before frustratedly leaving the top button undone rather than continue attempting to choke himself to death. "I don't remember these things being such a choking hazard the last time I wore one…then again that was at least a couple years ago at best. Whatever, it's just to get in and find out about Weiss' whereabouts so that we can go back to Vale, see how Yang's doing and then try to find the other two." Frost stepped back with an appraising look for a moment to see the state of his dress before rolling his eyes and speaking in a sarcastic tone. "What could possibly go wrong?"

With that, he opened the door to the room belonging to him before turning to lock it and walk over to the door to Neo and Emerald's room. He lifted one hand in a loose fist as he rapped the surface of the door a few times I the attempt to get the attention of the two inside. "Hey, slowpokes, I'm already set to go to this stupid event so hurry up and finish taking so long like every stereotype about girls claims. I'll be downstairs waiting."

* * *

Neo grumbled under her breath after Frost's words finished carrying through the door to them as Emerald struggled with Neo's hair. "I told you that using my Semblance would be faster, Emerald. But noooo, we had to find a dress for me as well so that I could 'look nice' as you put it. We're only doing this to get information so why are we going to so much effort?"

"Because," Emerald stated as she finished looping together sections of Neo's hair in a looping effect of brown and pink. "If we want to look like a part of the crowd then we need to look like the rich and fancy types. That's why we want at least one or two of us to stick out from the crowd to attract attention. Better you than me since I can sneak around better without needing a prior knowledge of the place."

"Fine. I guess you finally win because I can't think of anything to argue with your plan anymore." Neo acquiesced as Emerald completed the finishing touches on Neo's hair with a satisfied look. With a motion from Emerald's hand to turn around, Neo's eyes widened at the sight of her look after sitting patiently for nearly half an hour.

"Emerald…this looks amazing…but…how?"

"Just a skill I've had since I was a little girl. I always liked playing with my hair as a kid and took to practicing different things on it to see how it looked before I took to using my Semblance to make a living on the streets. I could still pocket a thing or two by changing the style of my hair every now and then to make people forget how I looked. It's amazing how easily people don't recognize you after a change in style. But you'd know that just as well as I do, huh?"

Neo only sat in silence as he ran a hand through her hair, trying very carefully to not mess up the work that had been put into it for this night. A small smile graced her lips as she turned and got off her seat before moving to reach for her parasol at the side of the dresser. A sharp whack on the back of the hand from Emerald stopped her as she was given a disapproving look.

"Come on, Emerald. I let you do this. Why can't I bring it?"

"Do you want to risk us getting kicked out before we even go in? We're already going to be using a very loose cover to try this and I don't know if this is worth it."

"And what if we do get found out while we're in there and need to defend ourselves or try and escape if we're somehow recognized by someone that isn't Weiss? And even then because even if she's aware of me she won't be aware that you switched sides. Literally none of Team RWBY does at this point."

Emerald paused for a moment. "Wait…not even the short red-head?"

"She doesn't either. We didn't know how she would react if she knew that or how things might go so it's been a secret so far. We couldn't risk something going wrong and having you caught up in the middle of it."

"…Fine. Guess we'll have to be extra cautious then just in case the princess makes an appearance at this stupid thing."

The two of them got up to leave, after Neo quickly snatched her parasol with a smug look to herself out of Emerald's sight before they left the room and locked the door behind them as they walked down the hall with the sound of clacking heels following them as they walked.

* * *

"And this is one of the reasons I hate these things." Frost mumbled to himself as he sat with a bored look on his face on a cushy chair in the hotel's lobby. "All the effort to go somewhere fancy for a few hours and spend a giant pile of time to get ready for it just to take it all off and not use it for months or even years. Not my style in the slightest."

As Frost's patience began to wane further, he turned to look out the window to the streets of Atlas as people milled about in the late afternoon/early evening. People watching was about the only thing he could do at this point and at least he could make up funny stories about what they were doing until the other two finally were downstairs and ready. This went on for about 10-15 minutes as Frost's head sunk lower into his palm as he kept his head propped up with one hand. His head quickly turned as the sound of two pairs of heels came from the stairwell to the upper floors, his body moving reactively to stand in the hopes that it was the other two and that they could finally leave.

Relief flooded his thoughts as he saw Emerald descend the stairs in a rather simple black and green dress. He started walking over towards the stairs to meet the two of them, but was stopped dead as Neo came into view behind Emerald with her parasol opened to complete her look. Most of her ink hair has draped over one side while the rest was intermingled with the brown portion of her hair in a very detailed way. As for the dress, it was a mostly black ensemble with an exposed midriff and a slight opening in the hips with a crisscross of fabric to prevent the hole from tearing accidentally when one moved as well as at the base of the midriff opening. It also had what looked like a wreath of pink flowers wrapped around the midsection of the dress that almost seemed to cup her bust. To finish it off, a pendant with a mall blue gem rested across her collarbone with small pink flowers attached to the gem as well with a pair of thin chains keeping it in place around her neck. His mouth went dry as it hung open at the sight in front of her, his mind blank as he struggled to remember what they were doing as well as what he was supposed to do next.

Unfortunately for him, he was unable to regain composure of himself before Neo noticed him as well and realized what he was staring at, a large blush spreading across her face as she sent a dirty look at Emerald after now realizing her intentions after so long. The green haired girl only smiled smugly as she mentally patted herself on the back for a job well done as Frost shook himself out of his stupor with a light blush of his own as he pulled at his collar for a moment in nervous unease.

Neo, for her part, also had taken a moment upon spotting Frost to admire the white suit he was wearing with the navy blue tie around his neck. For someone that didn't generally do anything special with his looks, the slicked back style he had put his hair into as well as the suit was perfect for what they would be trying to pull off. Only time would tell if it would work.

"Alright. Now that we know that everyone is presentable and ready to head out, let's go crash a Schnee event." Emerald stated with a smug look as her mood was at its peak for some time at all of her machinations coming together for the first time in a while.

Frost cleared his throat for a moment, both to get Emerald's attention, but also to clear the lump that still seemed to be there after seeing Neo's fancy look. "I believe you mean my family's event, Emerald. You are my guest after all."

"Look, I know we said that we would try to pass you off as a distant relation to the Schnee family since the white hair thing is relatively uncommon, but don't push your luck with the attitude, bub." Emerald stated with a quick and nasty look directed to Emerald as she started walking ahead of the other two.

Neo stomped her foot angrily as he turned to berate Frost for his comment. "She put in a lot of effort for tonight, Frost. Be nice to her, please."

Frost only continued to look in the direction Emerald left before responding with a light and honest smile. "I know she did, and it looks great on you. Make sure to tell her that, yeah? I'm sure she'll appreciate the boost."

Neo could only blush as the words registered from his matter-of-fact tone. She quickly moved to follow with a light smile as she followed after the other two to the event. Even if things went horrifically wrong in some fashion, this night was shaping up to be one of her favorites in a long time.

* * *

 **So this chapter is a little shorter than most mainly because I couldn't really do more without it being it's own chapter. I know that's kind of crappy of me to do after making you guys wait an extended amount of time, but I do promise that the ball will be rolling again next chapter rather than these filler-esque ones I've been writing as of late. It doesn't help that I got the idea for this after I had most of these events planned out and then had to readjust since I really couldn't stop myself from adding it in some way. Hopefully it's not a complete pile of garbage to you guys since this is as much for you to enjoy to read as it is for me to write it.**

 **Until next time though, peace!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Not much to say this time prior to the chapter. I got it out within the 2 week mark I try to keep to, and it's actually a bit of a longer one as well to help compensate for the shorter chapter last time. As for the story itself, we still are continuing at a good pace in a way that has me projecting at least 30+ if not 40+ chapters making this story longer for sure than my last one. Enjoy!**

* * *

The three of them casually strolled down the streets of Atlas towards the social event as though they had always been a part of the rich environment of the capital. Aside from the odd look some civilians gave them as to the fancy attire they wore no one bore them any special attention as they continued on their way. So far everything seemed to be proceeding alright, however they had only just started and had next to no idea what the event itself may look like nor how to act in a way that let them bend in and still try to find Weiss or Ironwood to try and find some answers as to current events in the northern kingdom.

Frost spoke in a hushed voice to the two on either side of him. "I'm just saying, we don't really have any experience acting fancy and stuck-up. What the heck are we supposed to even do once we get in there? We don't exactly want to blow or cover right off the bat even if the event doesn't require an invitation. It'll be obvious pretty fast how much we don't belong."

Emerald angled her head slightly to respond from Frost's right in a way that would still be audible to Neo and not be too loud for anyone passing by. "I already explained, just be quiet for a bit and look at how others are acting. Once you have an idea on that just act similar to them. Don't force it though; otherwise it'll stand out more. Just speak in short sentences and brief replies so that you don't have to focus too hard on what you're saying."

"Easy for you to say," Frost mumbled back while Neo silently listened to the two banter with a roll of her eyes. "You've had practice with this sort of thing, and so has Neo since both of you can use your Semblances to pretend to be other people without much effort. I don't have that same kind of ability. Especially with the cover we decided to go with if someone asks who we are."

"You've already been around one of them long enough. Just act in a similar fashion to what you've already seen and you should be fine." Emerald snapped back.

"Based on what I've seen versus what I've heard about them?" Frost replied back with an incredulous tone. "Easier said than done. I doubt the others will be quite as subdued as the rumors put them."

Neo turned to hush the other two as they finished their approach towards the gates to the Schnee Mansion. At that Frost begrudgingly set his concerns aside while Emerald turned her head back to face directly ahead as a pair of guards moved to stop them like they had been to other arriving guests.

"Hand over any personal belongings for a routine scan folks." One of the guards mentioned as he detached a device from a belt holster. "Routine scan for any weapons or dangerous materials before entering the premises."

Emerald gave Neo a sharp look as the latter hesitated for a moment in handing over her parasol that she had tried desperately to convince Emerald to bring along. The two turned to face Frost to see what his expression would be, surprised to see an unconcerned look etched across it. In fact, he was also facing Neo much like the guards, but with an almost impatient look on his face.

"Well? Hand over the parasol to the man already." Frost stated in a slightly nasal tone. "We already anticipated this to happen so we may as well explain while they look it over." The concerned looks Neo and Emerald gave each other as they both looked to Frost in bewilderment didn't seem to faze him as the guard thanked him for assisting before flipping a switch on the device he had retrieved before running it back and forth across the parasol. For a few moments, nothing seemed to happen as the device beeped across the surface of the weapon around the upper part where the veil was collapsed, however that changed to a frequently flashing with an increased pitch as it reached the bottom half where the Dust canisters lay hidden within the barrel of the modified gun.

The other guard raised his gun in a warning stance as the beeping intensified, the guard holding the scanner bracing as though expecting the object to explode once the pitch increased. "Explain this! No one is permitted weapons within the Schnee premises, much less concealed ones. Respond or you will be detained and removed from the premises at which point you will be taken to Atlas Military HQ for questioning and potential imprisonment!"

"You'll have to forgive my companions for me, kind sirs." Frost continued on in his nasally tone, his face unmarred by concern or worry as he continued to keep a straight face. "We came from outside the kingdom the moment we heard this event was to be taking place, and thus I needed to bring some friends as mine to act as protection- in secret of course- in case I was set upon by the White Fang on my way here. You know how they can be."

"Sir, I'll need a name to check on before I can accept a story like that." The guard holding the scanner replied as he kept a tight grip on Neo's parasol, much to her frustration.

"Fine. But I'll be having a word with your commanding officer about better information for the guards the next time one of these events goes on. My name is…"

* * *

Weiss sighed as she stood amongst the pandering crowd of guests to the event her father had been so "gracious" to host for the benefit of their neighbor kingdom of Vale.

"What seems to be the matter, Miss Schnee?" A light voice asked from nearby as Weiss turned to face the figure in full with a bored expression. "Your father made this event in part to help you ease back into Atlesian customs after being away to Vale for so long in case you had forgotten how privileged you were before leaving. Why do you appear disinterested in such a show of fatherly attention?"

Weiss was silent for a moment as she looked around at the throngs of people milling about, unconcerned about what had occurred outside their borders and even going so far as to insult them for not having better protection like themselves. It had taken every ounce of her willpower not to snap and lash out at something and instead move to one side of the room to silently think to herself. Unfortunately the bodyguard that had been assigned to her at Winter's own request was forced to follow her around as well, thus leaving her unable to be truly separate from the party to a place where she could train instead of satisfying the snobbish Atlesian nobles her father catered to. At first Weiss had been ecstatic to have a familiar face near her again, but after realizing who it would be her eagerness to have a guard quickly diminished. Now it felt more like a leash than a guard.

"…Because it's hardly being done for my benefit. Father simply seeks to establish his usual caring persona outside the office so that people eat up the words he has to say before moving on with more of his biased nonsense. He doesn't care about how I feel, and he never will."

Weiss' bodyguard remained silent and rigid as she finished replying before she turned back to face the crowd with a downtrodden sigh. A moment later a buzzing sound originated from one of the guard's ears to which Weiss stood straighter before turning back with an expectant, albeit bored look.

"Well? Who does Father wish me to speak with now? I swear if it's another potential suitor I'm going to throw something."

The guard turned to face Weiss after a few moments to receive the message. "Nothing quite so plain, Miss Schnee. It does however appear that you have family visiting."

"Winter is here? I thought she was too busy doing operations for the Military right now?"

"I'm afraid this isn't Specialist Schnee visiting. It is a distant cousin of yours. He claims to be the son of your uncle Crispin Schnee, on your mother's side. He has been in hiding since your uncle was killed by White Fang terrorists during his work in Vacuo to try and bring them into a more modern way of living. He also said he had a message for your ears only and demanded that he have a chance to speak with you."

Weiss stood confused as the words stated by her guard were processed. A cousin? From an uncle she had barely heard about? She HAD heard a bit about him and that he had left for Vacuo before she had been born, but he had a son? This was the first she had ever heard of such a thing. Normally a Schnee having a child would be celebrated quite profusely by the more pretentious members of the family like her father as it allowed them to continue their lineage through their children. Weiss knew now how much that was just manipulation and oppression on the part of the less reputable side of the family, but to keep one secret? What was the purpose? Then she remembered the second part of what her bodyguard had stated.

"Relay the message and tell them to bring him up here at once."

"At once, Miss Schnee." After a brief beeping sound from the same ear of the guard and quickly relayed response, the message was repeated out loud for Weiss to hear.

" _The rose is safe and sound and in the company of a kingdom missing it's champion. The dragon is recovering and the panther is unknown. The snow has descended near mountains of white and brings aid from unforeseen sources in the fight._ "

"I'm sorry…what?" Weiss stood confused as she replayed the message over in her mind. None of it made sense. It sounded like a riddle out of a terribly written children's book. Clearly it had some hidden meaning, but as to what it was, she had no idea. "How long until they arrive from the front doors?"

"I would say…roughly 10-15 minutes given the length of the building and the crowd they will need to pass through within the main hall. Perhaps 5 if they are able to move uninterrupted."

"That should be enough time to decipher most of the message then. I have a slight idea as to the first half of it, but the second had me horribly confused."

* * *

The group of three traversed through the crowd of guests as a guard led them through the masses towards the doors that would head into the rest of the house. Frost led the way as the other two followed after him, gently nudging their way through the crowd as they moved. Once or twice Neo had to swipe at Emerald's reaching hands as the temptation to pocket a wallet or two tempted her along the way. Emerald snorted as she replayed part of Frost's message through her head, the absurdity of it still not lost on the group.

"Are you done, yet?" Frost snapped in a hiss as they moved towards the large ornate doors. "I didn't have a lot of time to think on that one."

Neo placed a hand on Frost's arm with a bit of a reach as they walked through the doors with the aid of a pair of armed guards at a nod from the one they were following. "It's fine…Noel. I'm sure you just got a bit of it…confused; what with the details you were trying to relay."

"Yeah," Emerald replied with a cheeky grin, "I'm sure it was just your inner poet trying to sneak out a bit as you came up with it. That's all."

"You could have helped you know, Miss Master-of-Disguise." Frost replied with a bite to his tone.

"Maybe if you had given us more of a heads-up before taking the reins I could have. But since we had to be so secretive you wouldn't even let me know about this message ahead of time to tell you where it went wrong."

"…Whatever. Next time it's your job to come up with a secret message." Frost replied with a grumble as they turned to face a set of detailed doors where the guard leading them had stopped to face.

"This is the place folks. Miss Schnee is just inside waiting for you as asked. As soon as you're done, we'll be expecting you at the party down the hall. I'm sure Mister Schnee would be glad to see some family from out of the kingdom visiting." The guard stated with a salute as he turned and marched back down the hall away from them. The three of them all gave each other a brief look before nodding as Frost stepped forward to turn the knob and enter the room. Hopefully Weiss had deciphered the message enough in such a short amount of time.

As soon as they entered the room, they saw that Weiss seemed to be sitting by a desk facing away from them as she furiously scribbled away at something. The three of them moved further into the room to address her, only to be startled by the door seeming to close itself behind them with a sharp click as controlled on its own. As they all whirled to see if they had been caught in a trap, instead they were all left speechless at the sight of someone standing next to the door. Someone quite familiar to one and recognizable to another, as a matter of fact.

"Miss Schnee, your guests have arrived. They seem quite interested in me for some reason. Would you happen to know why?"

"I'm sure it's a mystery, Penny. As far as I know you've never met before to my knowledge." Weiss stated without turning to face the rest of the room's occupants. "Just give me a moment to finish deciphering this. I've gathered enough to know that this is obviously written by that dunce Frost and the first half applies to Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Arc's team, I just haven't figured out what his unforeseen aid is. How many people are there besides a white-haired male?"

"Two. One with multicolored hair and another with-"

"I'm sure we can introduce ourselves, thank you very much." Frost interrupted urgently as he stopped…Penny…from ruining everything off the bat by saying that Emerald was right there without explanation.

"Oh, good. I was right. You're ability to make riddles needs work by the way. The last half is atrocious and reeks of children's nursery rhymes." Frost opened his mouth to reply but Weiss beat him to it with an additional response. "And growing up in an orphanage is no excuse. You should still know enough between being brought up there and going to Beacon for a bit that messages between Huntsmen need better cipher's than that."

"Thank you!" Emerald replied with an exasperated tone before realizing what she had just done after throwing her hands into the air and turning to see the shocked and worried looks frozen on Frost and Neo's faces. "…Oops."

Weiss' posture froze the moment that Emerald's voice echoed across the room as she slowly started reaching for Myrtenaster atop a stand laying at the end of her desk. "You have ten seconds to explain why SHE is in this room with us before I call security…on all of you."

"Do you need me to apprehend the visitors Miss Schnee? Are we under attack?" Penny asked in her usual chipper tone, completely oblivious to the current situation.

"Now, now. There's no reason to get hasty here. Let's just all sit down and chat like we originally intended to." Frost shakily stated as he put up his arms meekly as a sign of being unarmed. "There's no reason thing need to come to blows here."

"Five seconds."

"EmeralddefectedafterIhelpedNeoinValeandshe'stravellingwithustouncoverCinder'splanoncewegeteveryonebacktogethersothatwecangfightasoneunitandstopwhatevertheheckisgoingoninthekingdomswithOzpindisappearingandtheWhiteFangworkingwithhumans!" Frost took deep heaving breaths after running his mouth like crazy while Neo had her hand ready to flip the switch to engage the shield on her parasol if the need arose and Emerald stood with her arms still raised somewhat with a meek look of apology on her face.

Weiss turned to face the three of them after a moment, her posture now slightly more relaxed than it had just previously been, but with her eyes focused intently and unmoving on Emerald. "Good. Now you won't have to explain from an Atlas cell, thank you for that. Now…explain in more detail and at a pace that doesn't make me wonder if you are actually Ruby in disguise."

"Do you have any other chairs first of all? This could take a while." Frost replied with a brief look around the room as he tried to see something to rest on so that he wouldn't be standing the whole time.

"Oh, just start talking. If I know anything about my father's security, all three of you are already having background checks done on you from behind closed doors like every other guest here. And when they find nothing matching they'll be all over this room in moments to arrest you. So explain and then leave as quickly as you can."

"Alright, guess that answers that then." Frost stated as he started regaling the events of everything since leaving the hospital in Vale after the Fall of Beacon. "You see…"

"Great, so the other dunce has run off trying to be the hero again and it's with the useless blonde to boot. We can count on those four being slow going at least so catching up shouldn't be too hard for the three of you to do."

"The three of us? What about you?" Neo asked in regards to Weiss' statement. "You said you're not the heiress anymore anyways after you talked back to your father, so why can't you leave with us?"

"Because I'm effectively under house arrest. You've already noticed the fact that Penny clearly isn't dead despite the actions of one of us in this room."

"Hey!" Emerald retorted from her position leaning against the wall.

Weiss ignored the brief interruption as she carried on. "She's been rebuilt and reprogrammed as a 'bodyguard' for me. More accurately she has been made to keep me from ever leaving the Schnee Mansion under my father's orders. How he managed to supersede General Ironwood I don't know, but I'm unable to go anywhere."

"What about electrically disabling her? Wouldn't that either turn off the new programming or straight up disable her?" Frost asked as he crossed his arms in thought with a brief look towards Penny's unmoving form. "By the way, good call on having her deactivate her hearing in a private mode while we talk. Why does she have that kind of programming anyway? It seems counter-productive to a house arrest."

"Winter informed me that she had a few programs added as well when she requested Penny be rebuilt to guard me instead of using existing manpower and to have a familiar face. Beyond that, I couldn't say unless she anticipated something like this happening. Either way, by now they'll likely be here soon given that the system will have found nothing about the three of you matching the information you gave. You should leave before they actually arrest you."

Frost, Neo, and Emerald all moved in a way that had each of them resting a hand on one of Neo's shoulders for the teleport they would be making in a moment. Frost turned to face Weiss after this was done with a determined look on his face.

"We'll be back to break you out of here. Obviously now's a bad time with the heightened security for the event, but we'll be back in hopefully a day or two when things aren't quite so packed here."

One of Weiss' eyebrows rose incredulously. "And the fact that you being here will likely have them increase guard presence anyways? What about that?"

"I can teleport to places I've already been to with ease. At least one of us will arrive when everything moves into place for us to move out. Like Frost said, we'll be back." Neo replied with confidence as they all disappeared with a flash.

Weiss sighed as she shook her head and turned to face Penny. "Penny, enable auditory systems."

"Do you wish for me to apprehend the intruders Miss Schnee?"

"That will not be needed, Miss Polendina." A female voice came from a speaker built into Weiss' desk that she had been standing in front of the entire time she had been talking to the others even from when they had arrived in the room. A moment passed in silence as quiet filled the room. The voice then spoke with a softer tone as it spoke to Weiss instead. "Are you sure about this, Weiss?"

"Yes, Winter." Weiss replied as she picked up Myrtenaster from its stand and examined the containers for it to make sure they were still filled and ready at a moment's notice. "You already have guards stationed outside of the hotel they're staying at I presume?"

"From the moment they stated which building and rooms they would be staying in. They'll be apprehended within minutes, thankfully enough time for them to change out of the nice clothing they purchased for tonight. It would be a shame to waste such nice finery after the trouble they went through."

"I hope they'll forgive me for deceiving them like this." Weiss spoke sadly as she sat back down at her desk.

"Once I get the chance to speak with them everything should clear to be set in motion. But what about the house arrest protocol out father had put in place?"

"I trust that Frost will have that covered. Despite his lack of ability with subtlety, he is quite resourceful. We'll be fine."

"I hope you're right, little sister. We both know how father will respond once everything happens- regardless of if it works or not."

Weiss looked out of the large window within her bedroom that overlooked Atlas with a determined look on her face.

"I know."


	21. Chapter 21

**So this chapter just refused to wait for me to write it, so here is the next big attachment to the story. A part of me was tempted to do it yesterday as a birthday present for myself turning 24, but I just felt like relaxing and being lazy instead. Whatever, it's done now and I hope you all like it. Enjoy, and I will see you all again within the next week or two.**

* * *

"I can't believe this!"

Emerald fumed and gritted her teeth in frustration as she paced back and forth within the cell the three of them were currently being held in. The three of them hadn't been back at the hotel for long following their conversation with Weiss before armed guards and security from the Schnee estate barged into their rooms and took them prisoner to be later questioned. Despite initial protest and consideration of fighting back however, the three of them knew that it would only serve to waste all of the work and effort they had gone through to arrive here. And so they let themselves be taken in, the only concern being what roadblock they would now have to face to continue on their search for answers.

"Emerald, you need to calm down!" Neo exclaimed from her seat on one of the beds in the room. She was almost as mad about the situation as Emerald in regards to how quickly things had turned against them, but she also knew that getting vocal about it wouldn't accomplish anything in their present situation. "I understand that you're angry, I am too, but this won't fix anything that's already been done!"

"That's easy for you to say! You weren't working under Cinder as long as I was! You didn't have to buckle down as much to do her dirty work for fear of what she would do to you if you disobeyed her!"

Neo's face hardened into a scowl as Emerald's words cut into her. "You know full well that I had reason to follow her orders or suffer the consequences! Or did you forget about how she threatened to target Frost at Beacon if I didn't do exactly as she said?!"

"At least you had somewhere prior to being forced into it!" Emerald snapped back. "I was stuck living on the streets for years before she came by, giving me hopes that there would be a better tomorrow! Not this messed up crap about anarchy and overthrowing the entire government of Remnant!"

"We were so well off, were we?!" Neo retorted as she got up and started marching towards Emerald, her fists clenched tightly as she glared at the green-haired girl. "We lost all that we had of family and friends when our village was razed by the Grimm! What kind of fortune is that?!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

* * *

Frost had his eyes closed in thought as the two girls bickered back and forth just a few feet away from him. He was upset, but also confused about the turn of events that had resulted in the three of them being currently imprisoned. Something just didn't add up to how quickly they had been detained following their return from the party. It just seemed too…predicted.

" _It's a shame that things ended the way they did._ " Frost thought to himself as his mind continued to try and fit the pieces together on their current predicament. " _We were this close to being able to leave for the others once we figured out how to break Weiss out, but now this just complicates things. We'll be too obvious a target if we manage to break out, and that would leave Weiss stranded here if we did since they would easily have advanced security on the house after what just happened._ "

" _ **You could just leave the princess here, you know.**_ "

Frost's head jerked ever so slightly at the dark and familiar voice that filtered through his mind. Not enough for the other two to notice amidst their squabble, but it was definitely there. His eyes snapped open at the same time with a brief look of shock before they softened into a defeated look of acceptance.

" _ **Oh, stop being so melodramatic. I'm not strong enough to take over…not yet at least. You still have time to hang out with your little play pals before I get to have my fun.**_ "

" _Then what do you want?_ " Frost thought to "himself" as he focused on the voice in his head.

" _ **Not much, just enjoying all of the negativity in this room right now. It's so refreshing to have such fresh food after you had that disgustingly happy memory show up a few days ago. I thought I was going to hurl in here, not like I actually could mind you.**_ "

" _And you're having an idle chat with me as well, because…?_ "

" _ **As long as the two of them keep yelling at each other, it just makes me stronger on top of the malice already lingering here from past and present prisoners. You do realize what that means don't you?**_ "

Frost's eyes widened in shock and worry at the creature's statement, a light aching feeling coming from the left side of his head now noticeable with a tempo matching what he could sense of his heartbeat as the other two continued to argue nearby.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

* * *

Both girls froze at the sharpness and volume of the voice that came from one of the other beds in the cold, dark room. Frost's body was unmoved from its original position of him sitting with his shoulders slumped and his head tilted in a way that covered his face with his hair. The two of them strongly wished to going back to arguing with each other, but the commanding tone that came from Frost's exclamation did well in keeping them quiet for the time being.

"Are you two done?" Frost asked, his body still unmoving as he regarded the others. "How about instead of arguing about something we can't control, why don't we focus on something that we can? Like what we're going to tell General Ironwood when we eventually get taken down to be questioned by him when the guards come back in a while, perhaps?"

"I guess…" Emerald stated in a subdued manner, still caught off guard from everything that had recently happened. "But what exactly are we supposed to say without risking getting thrown back in here?"

"I mean, he already knows about the situation surrounding Frost and I," Neo replied as she put a hand to her chin in thought. "But he doesn't know anything about you turning sides from Cinder following the attack on Vale. I don't know what we should say that would convince him not to just throw you back in here."

"Maybe the truth?" Frost questioned as he stood up to stretch, his body still turned in a way that obscured his face from the others, covering a wince of pain as the twitching in his mind lingered briefly before slinking back to the recesses of his mind for the time being. A slight hiss of disgust echoed through his thoughts as the presence of his darker half faded back into silence.

"Which part? Me aiding in the attempted execution of one of the most important people on Remnant? Or being single-handedly responsible for destroying a human-robot hybrid…thing designed by Atlas and making it look like they're to blame for the collapse of Beacon? I'm sure that he would love any number of those things. Right after he throws me into a maximum security cell to make sure I never see the light of day again, obviously."

"It's better than trying to make up something that'll prove to be wrong anyways. This is the time to come clean after all."

"Well, whatever we decide we'll need to think quickly," Neo remarked as she moved over to listen at the door to their cell as the sound of approaching footsteps carried towards them. "It sounds like the guards are back to take us off to see Ironwood."

"Guess you'll need to think fast, Em." Frost stated with a calm tone as he turned to walk towards the door with a determined gait.

"Well that's just fan-fucking-tastic. I wonder how else this day could go wrong?"

"Well now that you've said it we'll just have to wait and find out, Miss Jinxes It." Neo retorted with a smug look, to which Emerald responded with a disgusted grunt as the door lock rattled and three armed guards entered the room to take them away.

* * *

"I don't get why the General wants to question these three," the guard in the middle mumbled to his comrades as they marched the prisoners down the halls of the Atlas Military HQ. "They broke into a Schnee event and posed a threat to one of his own family, even if she isn't the heir to the company anymore. What gives?"

"Just shut up, Frank." The guard on the right snapped back as they kept following the path. "We're not paid to question the orders we're given. We're paid to watch prisoners, and do as the higher ups say. Plain and simple."

"Easy for you to say, Jack," Frank responded with a bit of sass to his tone. "You've been here for longer than I have, so of course you don't have any problem just following the same orders given to you day after day. Doesn't this situation feel different though?"

"Doesn't matter that it does, we still follow orders."

"Shut up, both of you." The third guard snapped as he tapped the closest guy on the back of the head with the butt of his rifle. "Stop talking procedure around the prisoners again. Or do I report you to the major again?"

"Sorry, Larry." Both of the other two guards droned on as though it were practiced. Frost, Neo, and Emerald all fought to keep back snickers of laughter at the antics of the guards escorting them.

"That's Corporal Larry to you two, Privates!" The third man snapped back as they reached a set of large imposing doors. He cleared his throat for a moment before regaining composure. "Anyways, we're here. Let the General know we've arrived."

"Yes, sir." The right guard replied as he walked over to the keypad next to the door and pressed a large green button, a beeping sound emitting from it a second later. "We've brought the prisoners as requested, General."

A clicking sound came from the large set of doors as they hissed opened to reveal the General's office within the compound. Frost, Neo, and Emerald were then ushered into the room by the three guards before they snapped a salute to attention before exiting the room to which the door closed with a brief hiss and click once again. Meanwhile, the chair for the desk had remained facing away from the door the entire time that the three had been brought in. Frost was the first to step forward and speak.

"General Ironwood, I understand what this looks like, but I can expl-"

"I've already heard everything I need to know." A strict, female voice came from the opposite side of the chair before it turned to reveal a formally dressed military woman with a bun of white hair atop her head and a portion of her hair descending over one side of her face. "And just so you know, 'General' Ironwood hasn't been the acting General since our return from Vale. That position has been given to me in lieu of another candidate at present." The white-haired woman reached over to a set of buttons on one side of the desk, to which she pressed a few different buttons on the keypad before a few things happened at once.

First, the handcuffs attached to each of their wrists were immediately disabled and fell to the floor with a clatter of metal on hard cement flooring. Secondly, a louder locking sound echoed from the large door they had been brought in from. And finally, a humming sound came from the desk itself to which the three looked around, confused.

"…Ok, I'm not sure whether or not to say thank you, so I'll just start with this- What's going on?" Frost asked from his position closest to the door amidst the confusion going through their heads.

"I have disabled your handcuffs, put on a secondary lock to the door to this office, and looped and audio and video on the security cameras so that we stand the best chance of being uninterrupted for the next while. After all, we need time to form a strategy for the three of you to take my sister and her bodyguard away from Atlas to rejoin with her team."

"I'm sorry, your who?" Neo asked with confusion as she looked at the woman with a look full of questions.

Emerald too, was confused for a moment before she threw up her hands in exasperation and with a huff of frustration at their current predicament. "She means Weiss, you idiots. This is her sister, one of the Atlas Specialists."

"I see at least one of you pays attention to orders. Though I could question as to your choice of who to take them from, Emerald Sustrai." Winter stated with a calm demeanor as she began to bring up files from her database onto a screen embedded into her desk. "Let me see, Neopolitan…no last name on file, interesting…Semblance is Illusions, of course it would be…Emerald Sustrai…Semblance consists of Mental Hallucinations, that would explain much…and Cobalt Frost…Semblance is Kinetics, quite wide-ranging though risky given it's apparent connection to your emotional state." Winter calmly looked over the three of them as she set the files aside on the large scree before opening up what looked like sets of maps before facing back to the three of them.

"Now, I understand that the three of you have quite to potential series of marks against you given what transpired months ago at the Fall of Beacon. But I have also heard that not a single one of you was wholly committed to the endeavor either. What do you have to say to that?"

"I would ask where you got that information from, first of all." Emerald stated with crossed arms as she stared back at the Schnee sitting in front of her.

"Why, the three of you, of course. I just heard it all earlier this evening from the party as a matter of fact."

"But how? You weren't even there. We overheard some of the guests taking about you not arriving at all that night despite the invitation sent." Neo responded as she stood next to one of the chairs facing the desk, unsure of whether or not she wanted to sit down in case the chair also had security measures built into it.

"The chair is perfectly harmless, I assure you. Take a seat. I'm sure the three of you could use it after all of the travelling you have been doing this last while. As for your question, it was while the three of you were talking with Weiss."

Emerald smacked herself on the forehead with a groan of realization. "A built-in speaker on the desk. I thought she was acting pretty uptight given the situation."

"Actually, none of that was acting, not towards the three of you at least." Winter responded before letting out a deep sigh as a sad look crossed her eyes. "You see, ever since our return from Vale, things have changed in the hierarchy of Atlas command following the 'mistakes' that General Ironwood committed. Our father, Jacques Schnee, was able to convince a majority of the Council that Ironwood was no longer fit to lead the military for our kingdom, and positioned myself for the role on the promise of finding someone better suited given time for things to calm down. Those of us aware of his greed however, were aware that it would be some time before another candidate would be put forward due to one thing- Weiss."

"Weiss?" Frost asked incredulously. "How does she fit into this? I thought she wasn't the heiress anymore for the company?"

"She isn't. That title is not on our younger brother, Whitley Schnee. A child that our father has managed to sculpt into a near mirror of himself like he had been attempting with Weiss before she rebelled and sought tutelage as Beacon rather than somewhere that he could easily influence. Ironwood would have minimized the meddling done, but it still would have occurred here despite his best intentions. However she does act as leverage for the things the military will act on."

"How so?" Neo asked.

"Because of me." Winter sighed as she turned to stand and look at a large mural depicting a map of the world of Remnant in full. "Our father knows how I care about Weiss despite my actions in public meant to show indifference. I do not wish her to fall to our father and off the path she has chosen to taken up. I chose to join the military to distance myself from the family business. Weiss sought to distance herself further if only to grow as a person of her own making rather than be a puppet of a man that married for power."

"She never mentioned anything when I spoke to her at Beacon." Frost mumbled to himself as he put a hand to his chin in thought.

Winter's head whirled to face him with a quickness that startled everyone else in the room. "And why should she? To her, you were little more than a stranger that fell into her teams lap following the events of the Grimm incursion that occurred shortly before the festival. Something I imagine, was likely meant to occur during the Festival itself rather than before, would that be correct?" The last question was directed towards all three of them, to which mostly Emerald and Neo squirmed at given how little Frost had actually been involved with that particular scheme aside from simply collecting Dust. "You may have helped her once in regards to a pompous Huntsman trainee at the school, but would you really expect that level of trust from one action?"

"No…that's true." Frost admitted with a dejected sigh. "I barely acknowledged any of their questions about myself at first given how focused I was on finding Neo again. It makes sense, too."

Winter nodded her head in acknowledgement before returning to her desk and gesturing to the maps laid out on the screen. "Now, as for our plan to free my sister. These maps are layouts of the different levels of the family mansion. Thankfully, due to your visit, you already know the interior of Weiss' room and thus can teleport directly inside."

"But what about security after everything that happened?" Neo asked with a look of curiosity and worry.

"There will be more guards roaming the halls, certainly. But since they repurposed the Polendina girl to act as Weiss' guard, they didn't see reason to put more outside the room itself, thanks to my convincing of those skeptical. She will however be in a full lockdown mode that overrides any other features should someone not authorized arrive in Weiss' room. That will be where your Semblance comes in, young man." Winter stated as she pointed a hand in Frost's direction.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Timeout." Frost stated as he put his hands in front of him in the shape a T. "You're saying I need to disable Penny's systems for us to even start on breaking out Weiss?"

"Yes. And you'll need to do it quickly as she is authorized to use lethal force specifically on the three of you should you return."

"Oh…well that's great. No pressure." Frost exclaimed with a huff as he threw his own arms up in exasperation before crossing them in front of his chest as he slouched back in his chair with a grumpy face.

"Regardless of the means used to detain Miss Polendina, you will take Weiss down a route I will map out for the two of you to follow to the family air pad to retrieve an airship for quick departure. After that point it is up to you where you will go about finding answers as to who is truly responsible for these crimes committed in Vale and likely more places to come before things are solved. Weiss will know how to disable to tracking systems so that you won't be followed, you just need to get her that far and you'll be fine." Frost raised a hand from his slouched position as he continued giving Winter the stink-eye. A nod of her head was all he needed to start speaking.

"That's all fine and dandy that we have a plan, but there is one problem I see as well as a question I have about this whole thing."

Winter crossed her hands under her chin as she gave him a thoughtful look. "Oh? Do tell?"

"First of all, how are we supposed to do this with no weapons? And second…why go to all of this trouble? Why help us do this in a kingdom known for being so strict and military?" Without speaking, Winter reached over and pressed another button on the desk, revealing a compartment behind the large map of Remnant that housed numerous types of weaponry- including their own weapons that had been stolen from the hotel.

"As for the question…it's exactly for that exact reason that I am helping you. Between working with General Ironwood and seeing things happening for myself after returning from Vale, I now see that Atlas has become too disconnected from the world. They need to know what is truly going on around them instead of hiding within a bubble of their own making until everything falls around them and it is too late to act in our own defense. This is but the first step."

"Well, regardless of what happens…thank you, Winter." Neo stated plainly as she turned from retrieving her parasol from the hidden cabinet.

"No. Thank YOU. For keeping my sisters interests and wellbeing in mind. And be careful not to cause too much damage to the mansion as you leave. I understand that conflict is unavoidable so some things may be damaged in the ensuing events."

Neo winked an eye in response as the three of them stood at the ready to leave the room. "Minimal damage, got it."

And with that, they once again disappeared with a flash of white light.

* * *

Winter sighed as she sat back at her desk and retrieved a bottle from underneath. She regarded it and a small glass sitting off to the side before shrugging and pulling off the cap to take a large drink from the bottle itself. After a deep sigh of air from the long draft she corked the bottle back up and looked over to an open window where a crow stood seeming to look at her before flying away from the glass with a twist of its body and a caw.

"If this is that sort of thing you have to deal with on a regular basis, Qrow…I think I understand a little more why the way you are with everyone."


	22. Chapter 22

**It was just today that I noticed we are very quickly approaching this story having as many chapters as my last one. The best part? We've still got quite a ways to go before the end so don't worry about this story ending anytime soon. Now, on to a chapter that will actually get us some progress! Hopefully those of you that have been patiently waiting will enjoy it! I know I did writing it!**

* * *

Weiss sat quietly at her desk, thinking to herself about everything once again that had occurred over the previous weeks. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever pictured her father to retrieve her from Beacon, only to lock her in her room and denounce her as heiress to the entire kingdom. She had expected to be kept under lock and key until she either broke out on her own or with Winter's help were she able, or broke down and surrendered to her father's demands if no opportunity to leave presented itself. Instead she had been immediately placed here, and later found out through the news that Ironwood had been demoted and placed under supervised probation after the events of Vale. Weiss had truly been afraid at that moment, unsure of what she would be able to do…

Until her father announced that Winter would be acting as head of the Atlas Military until further notice.

In truth, her father had stated that Winter would be _acting_ General until a replacement was found, but she knew Jacques Schnee; and that by having Winter in the seat of power for the military, and Weiss locked up at home as the only bargaining chip Winter would be weak to, he effectively had the monopoly on Atlas' goings on until someone stood against him. Like that would even work with how much influence he had, however. And so it came to pass that Weiss and Winter spoke in secret through security measures that Jacques had put in place that Winter had been very careful to keep access to behind his back, and a plan to help Weiss escape began to form.

As a matter of fact, their plan had nearly reached its apex when Frost, Neo, and Emerald arrived, throwing a huge wrench into their ideas as the presence of allies complicated matters as to who would be where in the event of Weiss' escape. And so they were forced to adapt on the fly, by means of Weiss filtering Winter into her room when she had been discussing recent events with the others while disabling Penny's audio receivers so that her father couldn't later tap into them in some fashion.

* * *

Weiss now sat with her legs crossed on her seat, one foot gently swinging back and forth as it lightly tapped the side of her desk as she waited with baited breath. Her patience was rewarded moments later when a brief flash of light signaled the appearance of the other three ex-students in the room, her hand immediately reaching for Myrtenaster atop its stand to start moving the moment they had their bearings.

"Alright, now that the three of you are here-" Weiss began before the distinctly obnoxious sound of an alarm started going off all around them. A moment later, the double doors to Weiss' room flew off of their hinges to the far corners as Penny entered with her swords drawn and spinning as the cracking of energy building up filled the room with its sound atop the blaring alarms.

Neo noticed this first and was quick to react as she teleported the three of them a few feet to the side just as Penny's weapons released their charges, carving a few holes in the opposite wall and shattering the large window overlooking the mansion's courtyard and Atlas below. The moment was short-lived once again however, as Penny's weapons quickly started to fire short and rapid bursts at the group of them as they split up and started sprinting in opposite directions. Frost headed in one direction by himself as he was the largest target while Neo and Emerald broke off in the other as they all dipped and weaved through the hail of swords and energy bursts.

"Stick to the plan you guys!" Frost attempted, and barely succeeded, to yell over the sounds of combat and alarms. "Get Weiss to the hangar! I'll deal with Penny!" Before anyone else could say otherwise, Frost jumped towards the wall just next to the now open doorway before twisting his body and pushing off of it with the assistance of his Semblance, resulting in his body colliding with Penny's and sending them both out of the large window and into the courtyard.

"Well…I guess that's one way to stop her." Emerald stated with a surprised voice.

Weiss shook her head to regain her thoughts despite her surprise at the sudden actions that Frost had taken as well. "Be that as it may, we still need to get to the helipad. Did Winter give you the map?"

Neo nodded as she brought up the digital display on her Scroll, a bright green line worming its way through the floorplan for them to follow on their path. "All set. But we were only supposed to disable Penny. How are we supposed to get Frost now that he's out in the open?"

"If he's as resourceful fighting against her as he was getting her out of here, we'll probably get to the courtyard with him patiently waiting for us." Emerald replied with a confident grin. "The guy's clever when he needs to be, all things considering."

With that out of the way, the three of them then began to run down the corridors of the mansion, their weapons drawn and ready for the eventual conflict they would meet form the guards.

* * *

Frost and Penny both landed with the sounds of crunching ice and snow as their bodies bounced a few times on the solid concrete and brick beneath them. Frost kicked off the ground in one fluid motion as he landed on his feet in a ready stance, one gauntlet attached to his right hand as his left remained exposed so as to give him a direct line of contact for the electrical pulse he would attempt on Penny.

As for the red-haired android, a pair of swords lanced out in opposite directions from her to impale themselves into the ground itself for her body to catch itself and land at its feet as well. Her pose was also that of one ready to battle as her system went into a full security mode as per the reprogramming that had quickly occurred following the capture of Frost and the others. A small group of swords began spiraling to charge energy as others lanced in Frost's direction, the blades all forward in an attempt to skewer him on their points and end the conflict quickly.

Frost saw this and brought his armored fist into the ground onto the edge of a large slab of brick in the ground causing the other side to rip out of the ground from the blow as the swords embedded into it from multiple points, one even coming close enough to Frost that he instinctively sucked in his gut for a moment as it sat dangerously close to his abdomen. He quickly leapt back as Penny hoisted the slab up into the air before bringing it down with a sharp crack onto space he had been moments prior. Bits of shrapnel and debris flew about; however it did nothing as it harmlessly bounced off of either Penny's robotic form or Frost's Aura, resulting in no harm to either person.

With her line of sight clear once again though, Penny now had a free shot with the beam that had been charging through everything, the laser now arcing forth in a devastating path as it carved the ground in its approach of Frost's body. Without time to properly react, he mentally threw a large portion of his reserves into a round of energy bursts that he began to punch out of both fists in rapid succession. It wasn't enough to halt the beam's approach, but it was able to slow it enough that Frost was able to just barely twist his body to the side in time, though the force of the attack carving the ground apart was still enough to send his body flying for a few feet before he landed and slid across the ground in an awkward pose. The acrid smell of something burning filled the air as he took a deep breath, his head and eyes turning to see a portion of one side of his jacket melted away as it had still been caught by the blast and seared off. His breath came out in sharp takes as he looked about quickly to see the damage that had been done to the courtyard on the side he stood compared to Penny's.

It didn't look good, needless to say. His throat bobbed slightly as he gulped down a tight knot before pushing another portion of his Semblance into his legs and strongly pounced in Penny's direction as she once again began to unleash her attacks.

* * *

"Holy crap! Did anybody else hear that?!" One guard exclaimed from one of the hallways near the courtyard. "It sounded like something just exploded! Should we go check it out?"

"Naw, it's probably a distraction." His partner replied from beside him, both of their weapons drawn and pointed down the hallway they currently resided. "You heard the order. The Schnee girl and a pair of fugitives are heading in this direction. It's our job to stop them, not go running in the opposite direction. Just remember, you shoot the Schnee, and your ass is toast. The other two are the priority."

"Some guards you two are then." A voice came from directly behind them with a cool tone to it. "Can't even pay attention long enough to realize they can't see for shit."

The two rapidly turned to face their weapons directly at Emerald who simply stood with a cocky grin and her arms crossed in front of her, her weapons not even drawn as she leaned against the wall. The two guards immediately opened fire on the figure, only for it to shatter and dissipate as they felt a pair of hands tap them on the shoulders, causing them to turn around once again only to be presented with Neo as she stood calmly with her parasol open over her shoulder. The two once again opened fire only for Neo's arm to twist as she placed the fabric shield between her and the hail of bullets, causing them to harmlessly bounce off. With their attention drawn to the figure directly in front of them and the parasol blocking their view, they were unable to see the line of glyphs set up along the floor until the parasol and its owner disappeared with a quick flash of light and Weiss' body came sailing down the hall with her weapon drawn as her full acceleration was launched into the two guards, their armor protecting them from the worst of the damage but not enough to prevent them from being sent flying and being knocked out as they crashed into the wall at the other end of the hallway. Emerald slowly clapped from the wall opposite where her imitation created by Neo had been standing before she reached to her hips and retrieved her weapons once again.

"Well this has been pretty easy and all, so I hope Frost will be done with his mess soon so we don't have to wait on him."

"Don't be so cocky, you." Weiss retorted as they all sprinted down the hallway, continuing to follow the path set out for them. "Just because this has been the case since we left my room, don't expect it to be this simple once we reach the helipad. There will be a lot more than two guards there so we'll need to be careful. Speaking of which," Weiss turned to face Neo as they forged on. "How close are we?"

"Not far now." Neo replied with a quick glance at her Scroll. "Just around this corner and through a large set of doors. Then we'll be on top of them."

"Good." Weiss stated simply. "I can't wait to get out of here and actually do something productive again."

"You are such a busybody." Emerald pointed out with a disgusted look. "How do you even relax, anyways?"

"None of your business, Emerald." The white-haired girl snapped with a quick retort before the three of them sharply turned the corner and slammed open the large set of doors moments later, only for them all to skid to a halt, which was rather difficult to do with all of the ice and snow littering the ground. In front of the trio stood Weiss' father, Jacques Schnee…

And over two dozen guards, their weapons all aimed and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

"Hello…daughter." The older man said with an angry tone, even as his face continued to remain stoic and hold a menacing smirk on it.

"Father." Weiss replied curtly.

* * *

Frost's body once again bounced off of the surface of the courtyard a few times as he was caught by the blast of another of Penny's beams. His chest heaved as he attempted to catch his breath from the exhausting fight, his jacket in tatters as multiple holes littered both sides of it from both blades and beams alike.

"You cannot win this excursion, criminal." Penny spoke with an authoritative voice. "Surrender and you may be granted your life in prison rather than that of a death sentence."

Frost lifted his body off of the ground with a grunt of pain as his unarmored arm reached over to hold his side, coming back with a trace of blood from a cut he had received on his right side from a sword he hadn't quite managed to dodge. "You know…Ruby would be absolutely devastated if she saw what you had become Penny. Do you remember her?"

"I do not know of anyone by the name of Ruby. I only know the names of the Schnee family and the Atlas Military leaders as per my programming. Anyone else is of no consequence."

Frost chucked lightly as he stood straighter. "You see, that's where you're wrong. I know about how unique you are, and there's no way they could remake you so fast without something salvaged from your previous body in Vale. So those memories are in there somewhere, they're just blocked. As for no one else being of consequence…you grossly underestimate your opponents when they've had actual training since so many of them are beaten so easily. But what about when they have something that counters you? How do you stop something that can shut you down with just a touch?"

"Such an action is impossible with the combat programming I have received. You cannot stop me from doing my duty and keeping Miss Weiss in her room. Her father demands it."

Frost sighed as he dropped his shoulders for a moment. "Well…I tried. Guess the firewall's too tough. Should've figured that words alone wouldn't crack it anyways, even if she does have a soul in a robot body. Plan B it is then." With that, Frost once again returned to sprinting towards Penny on the opposite end of the courtyard as her blades all began spinning in one gigantic blast to stop him once and for all. His face twisted with grim determination as he plowed forward even as a bright ball of light began to form directly ahead of him.

* * *

"What you are doing is foolish, girl." Jacques stated with disdain as he calmly regarded only his daughter, ignoring the other two with her. "You cannot hope to escape, especially not after what you've done with your conspirators."

"My conspirators?!" Weiss exclaimed as she put a hand to her chest. "How dare you accuse me when you're the real villain here! Everything you've claimed to promote has been nothing but a lie to appease the masses! Your "assistance" to the Faunus by giving them work with strict requirements? Nothing but glorified slavery! And your actions being for the benefit of Remnant as a whole? All you've wanted is to make yourself the wealthiest man in the world and damn anyone else that tries! I met a student from here at the tournament that said his father's business went under because of you! Do you know how many people you've put out of business if they don't explicitly work for you?!"

"I could spend all day rattling off the names of those too foolish to work WITH me, but that wouldn't do anything to convince you of how naïve you truly are. What I have done is take power out of the hands of those not smart enough or brave enough to utilize it and used it in a way that works for everyone. As for those flea-bitten mongrels you call people-" Jacques stated with a spit of disgust. "they are nothing but animals and deserve to be treated as such. You of all people should know what they've done to our family! Why are you on their side in this?!"

"I never said I was on the side of the White Fang! I meant the Faunus who refuse to associate with their violent actions and actually want to exist in peace."

"Pah. They're all the same regardless. But it seems you refuse to let go of your delusions of grandeur. So be it. If this is who you are…then you don't even deserve the name Schnee." With that, Jacques started slowly marching forward even as the guards kept their sights trained on the trio. The older man didn't even look at any of them as he walked between them all, Weiss' angry scowl turning to follow him as he opened the door to the interior and walked through only to pause as she screamed at him with a portion of the door still open.

"You coward! It's no wonder mother only sits in the garden and drinks! You took everything our family stood for and destroyed it! I'm only upset it took me this long to realize it!"

The door opened fully as Jacques walked back out and shut the door behind him. "Is that so? Well in that case…" He turned his attention to the guards who had their weapons still raised. "Kill the three of them. Then toss their bodies over the mountainside for the Grimm. That's all they deserve."

"Belay that order, men. Lower your weapons." A voice came from behind the large group of guards as the airship doors sat open, unnoticed by anyone. The sound of clicking heels on concrete echoed through the air as the group broke to let the new person in their midst pass with nods of their heads. As the last of the guards moved aside, all eyes widened at the sight of Winter with her weapon drawn.

"Ah, so this is how it is to be then?" Jacques stated with a sadistic chuckle. "Betrayed by both of my daughters. Well this will make leading the kingdom rather difficult, now won't it?"

"Not as much as you would think, father." Winter replied coolly. "Men, turn your sights to Jacques Schnee. If he so much as moves threateningly, stun him. Lethal force is unauthorized."

"Ah, but you forget who it is you are speaking to, _Winter_." Jacques replied with venom as he spoke her name. "Men, turn your sights to the treasonous ex-General, Winter Schnee and the other three here and shoot on my command." No guard turned their sights off of his body however as his brow began to sweat. "…What is this?!"

"This is you…being relieved of your position as the head of the Schnee Dust Company. Everything you have just said has been recorded using the airships audio sensors and sent directly to my Scroll and that of the Council of Atlas. Taking power from those less worthy? I wonder how some would feel given the pressure and blackmail you have on a good number of them so that you could overthrow Ironwood. My loyalty has long since belonged to him, not a pathetic man that refuses to acknowledge anything other than fortune or fame. Take him away." Winter then turned to face Weiss with a soft smile. "I am so proud of you Weiss. You never gave up on what you thought was important and your morals are strong for it, unlike our father. The airship is already warm and ready to leave, so go find your friends and end this bloody war."

"I will. But I do have one question…why? Why do all of this if you were going to be there this whole time?"

"Because while I trusted that you were in the right, I needed to test your resolve. I brought father here as the ultimate test of your conviction. If you were unable to stand against him then I wouldn't have been able to let you go without worrying if you could handle yourself. Running away forever wouldn't have solved anything. You needed to face him head-on and state your intentions clearly. And you did splendidly. Now go find your team, sister, and know that whenever you return that I will be waiting here with open arms, as will our mother…perhaps." A light chuckle escaped her as she smiled brighter. "I can't make any promises."

A singe tear escaped Weiss' eye as she leapt forward and gave her sister a tight hug. "Thank you, Winter."

"Go. You still have a friend fighting in the courtyard after all according to my security cameras."

* * *

Time seemed to slow as Frost neared the ball of light in front of Penny as his legs began to glow brighter and brighter before he pushed off of the ground with a leap as the beam arched out from Penny's weapons. From his peripheral vision he spotted the shape of an airship as it came around the mountainside and descended towards the courtyard. His attention returned to the robotic girl below him as his left hand began to crackle with the telltale signs of electricity as he built up a charge to short circuit Penny's systems and disable her. As his body descended, her face angled upwards as his shadow fell overhead and her eyes widened at the electricity buildup.

Then everything seemed to return to normal time as his body fell atop her with a crunching sound as his hand clasped her shoulder and sent waves of electricity coursing through her system, causing warnings and alarms to go off within her head. As these things happened however, a small piece of data from her memory banks popped up as the sight of a crying girl with red and black hair knelt crying next to an exit in a large arena filled her field of view.

"Ruby…I'm…sorry…"

Frost smiled sadly to himself as he caught Penny' weight on his shoulder before he started to trudge forward towards the edge of the courtyard where the airship was landing. As the doors to the ship opened and Neo and Emerald both reached out to help him into the ship as well as the unconscious Penny, eyes widened at the sight of him, covered in bruises and bleeding from multiple wounds on his body as he slumped into an unoccupied seat within the vehicle. He heard muffled sounds as his vision began to fade and his head bobbed with fatigue from all that he had just done in his fight with Penny.

"Ruby went…Mistral…take us there…"

"No…" Frost mumbled out while he was still coherent. "Need to go…to Patch…get Yang…first…"

And then his vision faded as his body went slack from exhaustion.

* * *

"Is he alright?" Weiss called back from the cockpit of the airship. "He looks like he's taken a lot of hits from her. Also, make sure she's securely in place and restrained just in case we don't get the reactivation code from Winter before she comes back online and tries to attack us."

"He'll be fine. He's a little banged up and cut, but we should be able to treat it while we travel." Emerald looked up with a thought of realization before turning to face the cockpit. "Where are we heading to, anyways?"

"Ruby went off to Mistral, remember?" Weiss replied. "I programmed a path for the autopilot to have it going take us there to meet up with her."

"No…" Frost could be heard barely by those in the back of the ship. "Need to go…to Patch…get Yang…first…"

"We need to get Yang first! We should head to Patch since its closer and so that we can let his injuries heal for a day or two before we move on."

"If you insist." Weiss replied. "But if she starts going pun happy the moment we arrive we're leaving for Mistral immediately without her."

Emerald laughed from the back. "That sounds reasonable to me, but I doubt the big guy will agree with that plan much."

"Well I'm the pilot, so I make no promises."

"You're not the only one that can fly one of these things, princess. Neo here knows how to fly an airship as well."

"I'm the one flying this ship and that's final. Besides…" Weiss said as she motioned with her head towards Neo off to the side for Emerald to look as well. Both of them watched as Neo didn't even pay attention to them as she treated Frost's injuries after carefully removing his jacket and folding it at his side with a determined look on her face.

"I think she's a little occupied."

Unbeknownst to the others, Neo smiled to herself as she treated Frost's injuries before whispering quiet enough that only she would hear it. "You always have to be the big hero with your dramatic entrances and saving everyone don't you, you big idiot."

"Please…never stop being you."


	23. Chapter 23

**So this chapter will be a little bit shorter than the last as it is more of a build-up chapter once again as we have just surpassed a major plot point in the course of this story. As for how things have been so far, I hope all of you reading have been enjoying it thus far and enjoy what is to come. Either way, onto the next chapter!**

* * *

Everything was silent in the corners of Frost's mind as he traversed the dreamscape. He knew this as he once again followed after a distant memory of his family wandering the streets of his former home in quiet comfort. The sounds of wind blowing through the trees and plants brushed by, and the sounds of laughing children carried from a nearby park near the center of town.

None of that mattered, however.

* * *

Frost silently watched as his family walked towards and then beyond their home, before stopping at the house next door as they knocked and patiently waited on the doorstep for the residents inside. After a few moments that clattering of small feet on wooden floor sounded before the door slowly opened, and the face of a young Neo filled with excitement could be seen within before it angled to look back towards the interior of the house.

"Mom! They're here!"

"Well tell them they can come in, they don't need to wait on my account! Besides, dinner is almost ready and I can't leave this food or it'll burn."

"Okay!" Her head snapped back to those at the door as she reached out and latched onto one of Frost's hands to pull him inside ahead of his parents.

"Too hard, Neo! It feels like my arm is gonna pop off!" Young Frost moaned as his parents chuckled from just behind him.

"With a grip like that, she'll probably be leading him around for years." His father chuckled to himself as he likely pictured the image in his mind.

He had no idea just how accurate that would be in some of the days to come.

"Let's hope he doesn't end up being as clueless as you were when you were younger then." His mother replied with a smile of her own and a twinkle in her eye.

Frost's father looked at the two as they played in the living room for a bit as Neo's mother put the finishing touches on dinner. "The two of them? I could see it, but I'd be more worried at how much of a lady-killer our son will turn out to be after inheriting our genes."

"What, and get your charm and charisma? He wouldn't stand a chance then." Frost's mother retorted with a light shove to his shoulder.

His father scoffed. "Hardly. I hope he gets yours; all he needs from me is a fighting stance and the will to defend. That'll do for me. Heck, he's already got your hair color and soft expression compared to my gruff exterior. I think he'll be fine."

His mother blushed for a brief moment before sighing wistfully. "It's moments like these that remind me why I married you in the first place, sweetheart." She leaned over before giving him a light peck on the cheek before turning back to eye the children, who were looking at the two of them with differing expressions.

"Ewwww…they're being all romancy again." Frost groaned as he faked a gagging motion with his tongue out.

"I think it's sweet." Neo replied as she smiled, albeit with a slightly sad look on her face.

"Hey now, Frost." His father called out to his younger self. "Don't be so quick to knock it. One day you'll want to do this sort of thing with someone you care about."

His younger self shook his head rapidly. "Nope! I won't have time for romancy, mushy garbage cause I'll be too busy saving the world from Grimm!"

" _Yeah, and look at how that turned out._ " A voice whispered in Frost's ear. " _He went from wanting to save the world from Grimm to slowly becoming one himself. The world is so ironic, isn't it?_ "

* * *

The happy scene around Frost slowly faded away as the dreamscape collapsed and left himself in a large open space devoid of color or anything of significance. His smile morphed into a frown as he turned to face the only thing he knew would talk like that. Especially in his own mind. But not once did he show anger or fury on his face while he did so.

" _Oh?_ " His doppelganger spoke in mock surprise as it looked at his face. " _This is new. No whining or complaining about my still being here? No rage at the forces of the universe for taking something else from you before you had a chance to enjoy it?_ "

Frost's expression was unmoved as his mirror image gave him a sickly twisted smile showing rows of jagged, sharp teeth. "All it does is encourage you and feed you more, so why should I bother?" His tone was apathetic as he crossed his arms in front of him before sitting on a chair that willed its way into existence even as his counterpart did the same in a much more relaxed manner as a table also appeared between them. "All I really want to know is this- Why even bother with this when you know what the eventual outcome is going to be? I would sooner die then let you destroy the person that I am. So why egg this on if it only speeds up both of our demise?"

" _You seem to think that you still have control in this scenario, and I find it entertaining. I can see now why Torchwick enjoyed toying with you so much. Your will to live and stubborn nature make you an excellent person to toy with and torture._ " His mirror calmly placed his elbows onto the surface of the table as a replica chess set appeared between them. There did appear to be some noticeable differences between their pieces, however.

Frost's side of the board seemed to have his pawns taking on the image of ordinary Huntsman and Huntresses while his special pieces took on the images of his friends and family, much to his brief surprise. However what was odd were the empty spaces in a few spots on his side of the board. While he had one of his rooks, both of his bishops, his queen, and his king, there were no signs of one rook or either of his knights. The one rook he had was the spitting image of his father, the bishops of Weiss and his mother, the queen being Neo, and the king…himself.

As for his doppelganger's side of the board, they all took on the appearances of Grimm for the pawns, followed by different people he had come to detest over his time in Vale along with the more powerful Grimm. As he scanned the board he recognized each piece with ease. The rooks each took on the images of either a Boarbatusk or an Ursa, the knights of a Nevermore and a King Taijitu, the bishops of Mercury and Torchwick, the queen as Cinder, and the king of his doppelganger.

" _I would say that we both have our pieces to play this little game, but it appears you still haven't gathered your entire army yet. So I'll be nice and give you this one opportunity before we do play. Find your friends, have them join you. And once you've done that…we play. And the winner takes control, no questions asked._ "

"And why should I agree to this? You'll cheat, obviously, and leave me in a losing position right off the bat."

" _This is all in your head, isn't it?_ " His clone smirked at him from across the wooden surface. " _This wouldn't be here if you didn't want some way to symbolize your control in the situation. I can't influence any of this board no matter how hard I try. Both sides are based on the decisions you make. For every victory you achieve, your pieces will gain the advantage; while each mistake or loss will cause mine to move instead. This entire game is on your shoulders for the result._ _Play wisely and you just might come out on top._ "

Then he woke up.

* * *

Frost groaned from within his seat on the airship as they moved swiftly through the skies of Remnant towards their destination. His eyes blurred for a moment as he slowly turned his head to look around, wincing as he felt pain lancing from multiple points on his body.

His groans of discomfort reached the ears of those currently in the back of the vehicle, two sets of eyes turning to face him with surprise written on their faces. Who they were, he was unable to tell as his vision refused to focus properly at present from the dizziness present in his mind after everything that had happened both in and out of his mind.

"Frost? Are you alright?" Neo's voice came from the closer of two sets of eyes as he slowly nodded his head and his vision finally began to clear, allowing him to see where he was at present. He nodded his head briefly before blinking a few times in rapid succession as he glanced around the cabin of the ship.

On the far end of the ship sat Penny's motionless body as it slumped slightly to one side, likely from gravity trying to bring it towards the floor of the ship only to be stopped by the harness of the seat she was currently strapped into. Inside the cockpit he could see Weiss carefully looking over the controls of the ship before flipping a switch and turning her seat so that she was facing into the cabin and towards his seat. Emerald sat on a seat across from him in the cabin with her arms crossed but not strapped in at present, while Neo appeared to be looking at him from the seat just next to him with an anxious look on her face.

"So…what I miss?" Frost tried to sound nonchalant from his current position, but the bandages across multiple parts of his arms and torso seemed to disagree with his casual approach to things.

"Wakes up from fighting a psycho, killer android and THAT'S the first thing he says? This is gonna be good." Emerald stated with a brief laugh from her seat as Weiss gave her a brief glare before turning back to face him while Neo never took her eyes off him for fear that he would disappear and hurt himself in some crazy way once again.

"In my defense, the plan WAS for me to distract Penny so that they three of you could get to the airship." Frost retorted from his side of the ship. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did. But fighting Penny head-on was about the most boneheaded thing for you to do. Even Ruby wouldn't do something so ridiculous." Weiss stated matter-of-factly from her seat at the front of the ship. "All you had to do was simply dodge her attacks until we arrived and then leave as she wouldn't have been able to fire on us given that I was within the airship and made sure that I was visible by being in the cockpit for her to notice when she scanned the ship once you had hopped on board. Instead, you manage to receive multiple burns and cuts from her weaponry in your efforts to disable her. Brining Penny along wasn't a part of the plan, so why bother?"

"Because the real Penny is still in there. I could hear it just as she was shutting down when I landed my hit. All of her combat experience and practice had to have come from previous memories or else they wouldn't have had time to have her in working order so soon after Beacon fell. I just needed to get in close to disable her so that we can see about removing that block on her memories before she reboots herself."

Weiss groaned as she placed one hand over her face in frustration. "And how are we supposed to do that without any access to Atlas tech in the middle of Patch- which we'll be arriving in soon by the way, given that you've been unconscious for half a day while your Aura recovered."

"Half a day? Damn, how much Aura did I lose? I've never been out for more than a few hours before with stuff like this."

"Frost." Neo's voice caused him to turn his head to look at the girl next to him. "Your Aura was completely depleted. You used up all of it in your fight with Penny. We had to put you on an IV for a few hours to help boost its recovery before we were sure you'd be alright." Frost looked over to an empty plastic bag hanging from a railing on his left side where he now noticed a slight itch on his arm where a bandage covered the spot where the IV had been previously.

"You could have died."

Emerald spoke up from her side of the ship once again. "He would have, too, had he mistimed his jump to dodge her last attack. Pretty ballsy if you ask me."

Weiss' glare could freeze a volcano as she whirled to face Emerald. "Not. Helping. Emerald."

Frost could only chuckle as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. His attention to that didn't last long however as he heard the sounds of awkward shuffling beside him as he looked over to see Neo anxiously holding her fists clenched over her legs with her head facing down to hide her face. At the sight of that, he carefully wrapped his right arm around her side to pull her into a sideways hug to help calm her down. As he did so, he felt the tension in her body slowly ebb away as she relaxed into his embrace.

A few minutes later, the rhythmic sound of beeping came from the far end of the airship, causing all heads to whirl and turn in the same direction slowly and fearfully. A moment later, Penny's head jolted upright as the lights in her eyes blinked on, signifying that she was once again active. Her head slowly turned to face the four of them in the front of the ship before her face widened into a smile.

"Salutations!"

Frost was the only one to speak as they all sat dumbfounded and worried about their current predicament.

"Well…fuck."


	24. Chapter 24

**Whoops is as I can really say for not realizing how long it's been since the last update. My apologies for that little mix up. Regardless, here it is now, with a little change in perspective partway through as well. Hope you're all looking forward to what's to come, things are really gonna start picking up pretty soon, after all.**

* * *

"…Weiss?" Frost asked slowly while not taking his eyes away from Penny, who was currently sitting with a smile on her face in her harnessed seat. "Please tell me you know a kill code or deactivation command for Penny to put her back to sleep. I know you have a silent mode for private conversations, but we really aren't in a good spot to deal with a kill-bot under your father's command right now."

"...Unfortunately that's all I was given access to in her systems when she was brought to me. Any other codes are beyond my control, and it would take too long to contact Winter for her to either grant access or shutdown Penny herself."

"…Great."

During Frost and Weiss' discussion, Neo and Emerald both had their weapons carefully drawn as they sat poised to leap into action at a moment's notice while Penny continued to sit while looking directly at them, her eyes occasionally shifting to look at another person for a few moments before returning to another figure. Everyone was tense as they wondered what she would do next as per her programming, afraid of their odds for survival as they were currently still over the sea between Atlas and Vale. However, that silence didn't last long before Penny opened her mouth once more to speak.

"Weiss?" The red-haired android began as she directed her focus to the girl flying the airship. "Where is Ruby? Is she okay?"

Everyone stared in shock at the innocent question, free of violent intent or programmed obedience like they had heard previously. After a moment, all eyes turned to face Weiss at the helm as she stared wide-eyed at Penny, her face frozen in a state of shock.

"…I-I'm sorry" The white-haired girl stuttered out after a brief hesitation. "…what did you say Penny?"

The other girl responded immediately, her face now set in a determined expression. "Where is Ruby? Is she okay?"

Weiss turned to the others with a pleading look as she tried to wrap her mind around the current situation. The group then proceeded to glance back and forth between each other trying to figure out some way to respond as they had no idea what to expect given their new situation. It was Neo that ended up speaking first after a few moments of silent looks.

"Penny." She started as a way to gain the girl's attention that turned her head at the sound of her name spoken. "Ruby is fine as far as we know, and as for where she is, all we know is that she and a few others are currently somewhere in Mistral. We can't say more for certain as we've been out of contact for a while now since they were barely in range when we contacted them over a month ago. They'll be too far in land for us to reach them now with the CCT in Vale destroyed."

"That is excellent news that Ruby is still okay!" The red-haired girl spoke happily before continuing. "I was very worried after hearing about what happened to Vale that she had been hurt in some way. We should go and help her immediately!" She then turned to face Weiss once more. "Weiss, you must fly us to Mistral right away so that we can assist Ruby and these "others" in their mission!"

"Woah, Penny, slow down." Frost spoke up as he raised his arm on his good side in protest. "We need to recover and rest in Patch before we can go anywhere else, especially into unknown territory. We also need to figure out why you aren't immediately trying to kill us like back in Atlas before we can go anywhere with you as well. No offense." The last past he spoke apologetically with a weak grimace at the blunt way he had stated it to her.

"If you are concerned about me returning to my defensive mode around you, then you do not need to fear anymore." She replied confidently. "Thanks to the electrical surge you administered to my body, my system was set into a reboot state, where I was able to reprogram the commands placed by Jacques Schnee to prevent his daughter from leaving Atlas. I do apologize for causing you all so much trouble in Atlas, but rest assured, I am 100% committed to helping you all now. Even the criminal thief that aided Cinder Fall's plot to destroy Beacon!" At that statement, all eyes widened and turned to face Emerald for a moment, who only shrugged without any idea before they all turned back to face Penny.

This time, it was Weiss who spoke.

"Penny…how did you know who Emerald worked for?" She asked carefully to probe for information.

"Our systems recognized her the moment she arrived in the city with the other two, who we also have on file as individuals that had aided Roman Torchwick and Cinder Fall in stealing dust containers delivered by the Schnee Dust Company before the Vytal Festival and the emergence of Grimm from Mountain Glenn. However, General Schnee commanded us to simply keep an eye on them rather than immediately arrest them to "see what they would do"."

"Well…" Weiss began from her seat in the cockpit as she turned back to face out the view screen and wait for their approaching arrival in Patch. "Winter forgot to mention THAT part when we setup our plan for me to leave. We could have had things figured out much better if she had."

"Your sister wished for you to not know when they had already arrived prior to the social gathering in your home as she was concerned you might get too eager to leave and ruin the plan while your father still had his control over Atlas. She must have planted this information in the closed off portion of my memory banks so that I wouldn't know of the plan while I was still under the control of Jacques Schnee." Penny admitted, to which Weiss turned her head slightly to acknowledge she had heard it before silently turning back to face outside.

"Okay…well…that's great and all…I think," Frost began as he trying to piece together everything that had gone on behind the scenes since they had arrived in the capital. "But like we said, we still need to rest a bit in Patch and get Ruby's sister before we can go anywhere to help Ruby. Plus we still don't know who all was involved with the attack on Beacon or where they might strike next, so we need to plan for that as well."

"Why do we not simply call her on her Scroll then?" Penny asked plainly.

"Penny…we just explained this." Neo gently reprimanded the android before continuing. "The CCT in Vale was destroyed, and there isn't enough power even from the other towers for any long-range communications to reach them out here. I'm sorry."

"But you are wrong!" Penny insisted as she replied to Neo's comment. "There is a way for us to reach Ruby! My internal system has a long-range communicator built into it so that the General may contact me wherever I am should the need arise. Simply plug one of your Scrolls into the socket on the back of my neck and we can patch a direct line through to Mistral and to Ruby's Scroll! I can use that to speak with her and let her know where we are!" The others once again looked to each other with surprise as they turned to grab their Scroll's.

"Wait…I don't have Ruby on my Scroll for…obvious reasons. One of you needs to give her your Scroll to reach her." Emerald realized as she was in the process of grabbing her Scroll from her back pocket.

"I'm busy watching for our approach up here, so one of you needs to do it in the meantime." Weiss stated bluntly from the cockpit as she continued watching the area around them as they passed through some clouds.

Frost carefully began reach with his good hand towards his pocket at an awkward angle to grab his Scroll, only for Neo to place one hand on his to stop him as she held out her own Scroll casually. He smirked and nodded his head as she got up from her seat to walk over to Penny while she searched through her small list of contacts to find Ruby's Scroll number. Penny turned her head around to reveal an access plate exposed on her neck that Neo then clipped her Scroll before stepping back as Penny's head turned back and her eyes began to flash lines of code as she accessed the network built into her system. After a few minutes wait, her eyes returned to normal and she stared ahead with a neutral expression before her eyes flashed and a view screen appeared on the wall of the airship opposite her.

"Hello?" A familiar voice sounded through an audio system also built in Penny's system. "Who is this? The picture isn't coming through right."

"Friend Ruby! It is good to hear your voice again! How are you?" Penny immediately stated with a smile on her face as the most of the others all watched the screen to see if Ruby's face would appear. Emerald, meanwhile, had shifted to sit on the same side the screen had been placed on to remain out of eyesight in case the picture did come through so as to not be discovered just yet.

"…Penny...is that you?" A slight quiver could be heard in her voice as the others eyes widened in shock, forgetting that Ruby had been one of the only ones amongst them to be truly affected by Penny's demise in the Vytal Coliseum. Suddenly, they were all reconsidering this idea to contact Ruby so soon.

"It is, Ruby! And some of your other friends and teammates are here, too!"

* * *

Team RNJR carefully treaded through some overgrown brush on their trek towards Mistral. They had been traveling for a while now, given how large across the continent was and the large body of water directly in the center of the kingdom, but were finally finishing their long journey to Haven Academy in their search for answers. However, they stopped short when Ruby's Scroll suddenly started to buzz from within her back pocket.

"How could someone be trying to contact us out here?" Ren spoke aloud, voicing all of their thoughts at once. "No one in the capital of Mistral should have your number, Ruby, and no one in the other kingdoms is able to reach us since Vale's tower went down."

"I don't know. Should we answer it?" Ruby asked for the others opinion.

"It could be a trap. I'm not sure, though." Jaune voiced his own concerns. "We haven't really been in contact with anyone since you spoke to Frost over Scroll's just as we were arriving in Anima, though. It would be nice to hear someone else's voice for once."

"I say we do it. Give them a few moments to say something, and if we don't like it, we hang up." Nora stated plainly as they all turned back to Ruby as she nodded and retrieved her Scroll before flicking it open. The device showed that it was in a call; however the picture was very fuzzy and consisted of mostly static and black spots.

"Hello?" Ruby asked with a concerned voice before continuing. "Who is this? The picture isn't coming through right." After a brief wait, a voice responded from the other side of the call. One that shook Ruby to her very core.

"Friend Ruby! It is good to hear your voice again! How are you?" Penny's voice echoed over the speaker of the device, the other eyes of Team RNJR widening in shock as they all looked at the Scroll, then up to Ruby's face where a hand rested over her agape mouth and a few tears descended from her wide eyes.

Ruby removed the hand from her mouth as she started to reply to the familiar voice, albeit with a hitch in her voice that anyone listening in would be able to hear. "Penny…is that you?"

Another few moments passed. "It is, Ruby! And some of your other friends and teammates are here, too!" With that, the rest of them bundled closer to Ruby, both as a sign of support for the now-distressed girl and to make sure they didn't miss anything important from the call.

"Others?" Ruby asked with confusion as she wiped tears from her eyes with a sniffle. "Who else is with you?"

"Your teammate Weiss is here, as are your friends Neo and Frost and-" There was a loud banging sound that came from the other side, blocking her voice for a moment "-we are going to rest at your home in Patch and retrieve your sister before we come to assist you in Mistral with your mission. We will be in touch once we have Yang and are on our way! Goodbye, Ruby!" There was a brief pause before Penny's voice spoke up once more, only more subdued this time. "It is good to hear your voice again and know you are safe. Be careful."

"We will, Penny." She smiled a sad smile as the call shut off and she put away her Scroll with a quiet expression.

"Are…you going to be okay, Ruby? Do you need a moment?" Nora asked carefully as she stepped towards the younger girl with her arms slightly open. Ruby was silent for a moment before she leapt forwards and wrapped her arms around Nora before weeping openly. "Ruby?"

"She's alive!" Ruby practically yelled as she smiled amidst the tears. "I thought Penny was dead and I-" Ruby's eyes widened as she turned to face Jaune, whose expression was currently unreadable as Ren looked on in silent concern. "Jaune, I'm so sorry, I-"

"Don't be, Ruby. I'm happy for you, really." His expression was somber as he gave her a weak smile. "I just wish I could be happier for you, but I'm too selfish."

"No, you're not!" Ruby snapped back before detaching herself from Nora and running over to wrap her arms around Jaune instead. "I'm the one being selfish when Pyrrha is still…gone. I should be the one apologizing! I'm the one being insensitive! You should be angry with me, it's only fair!"

"No Ruby, it's not." Jaune shook his head slowly even as he patted her head slowly, though he didn't step away from the hug. "You got your friend back. Not many people can say the same after what happened. I really am happy for you. Just not as happy as I should be. But it'll pass. Don't worry about it." The group simply stood in place for the time being as they let the moment of peace wash over them for a time.

However, that moment was short lived as a small group of airships rushed overhead. All of their eyes turned to face watch them go, Ren's eyes widening at the last moment as they passed over the trees and out of sight.

"We need to follow those airships, now!"

"Why? What did you see, Ren?" Nora asked with newfound concern.

"Those ships had the logo of the White Fag on them, and I know what direction they're going in! We need to figure out what they're up to!"

"Why? Where are they going?" Ruby asked as they all unsheathed their weapons before pressing on with Ren at the lead as he leapt over rubble and trees.

"I'll explain on the way. We need to move, now!"

* * *

Everyone was silent aboard the airship as they all looked silently about.

"I…don't think that was actually the best idea…" Frost stated with disappointment in his voice as he stared at the floor with his head hung low.

Penny looked confused at everyone else as they silently carried on. "Is something the matter? Was it something I said?"

Emerald was the first to speak. "Yeah. It was."

"Emerald, that's enough. She couldn't have realized what would have come out of that had it been heard." Neo reprimanded the green-haired girl before turning to look at Frost's slumped form. "We're just lucky Frost reacted like he did to muffle the sound of it. It doesn't seem like they heard that part where Penny mentioned your name."

"But why would we not want Ruby knowing that she is with us?" Penny asking with genuine curiosity. "Is that a bad thing?"

"At this moment, yes." Weiss stated plainly from the cockpit as they all felt the ship begin to slow tip downwards. "Ruby shouldn't find out about Emerald until we meet face-to-face. There's no knowing what could happen otherwise. At least then we can manage the reaction a bit. Besides, right now we should be more concerned with how her sister is going to react to Emerald as we're about to arrive."

"…Great. Out of the frying pan, into the fire." Frost grumbled from his position as he sat up straight and looked out to the sky out the view screen at the front of the ship.


	25. Chapter 25

**Alright, so here we are with another part to this story. I'll admit, I'm really happy I've gotten this far and with a sequel no less. I had always thought that each attempt I made at writing would end halfway through before I had to cancel it as I lost track of ideas. But that hasn't happened yet and I don't plan on letting it happen like failed attempts of yesteryear. This story and its characters, even if most of them aren't my own, have become too important to me for me to let it die and fade away into obscurity. So I hope you all enjoy this next part, and be sure to let me know if anything happens to confuse you or needs explanation/improvement (which I will try to do to the best of my ability without giving away spoilers be that the case).**

* * *

Tensions were high for the majority of the ships passengers as they touched down outside the Rose-Xiao Long home on the island of Patch. While they knew they weren't likely to meet any opposition to their presence, save for most likely Emerald, recent events were still playing back in each of their minds in different ways. Many of them also needed a good stretch after spending as much time as they had aboard an airship without room to move around or really do much to occupy themselves. Though the travel time had been greatly decreased from the weeks it had taken Frost, Neo, and Emerald thanks to them flying over everything in a straight line at a much faster pace, it had still taken nearly a full day to arrive from them leaving the capital. Thankfully, it also meant that travelling to Mistral to catch up with the others wouldn't take more than a day or two either, and for that they were thankful.

* * *

Weiss stretched carefully as she got up from her seat at the front of the ship after meticulously checking to ensure that everything was at it should be. Her mind was still playing back her confrontation with her father as she switched off the engines and activated the door to the ship to allow them to disembark and walk the rest of the way to the cottage to meet up with Yang and her own father. To the outside eye, it may have seemed like she had been confident and in control even when facing down the barrels of over a dozen trained soldiers under her father's "orders", but inside she had been anything but. The years of being taught how to posture to those in other high ranking positions, as well as how to be diplomatic even if the face of adversity, had helped her immensely in standing against her oppressive father and eventually come out ahead. What still bothered her, however, was that it had been Winter in the end helping them against her father that had caused his own plans to fail and for the soldiers to turn against him at the climax of their encounter. All the time she had spent at Beacon as well as the progress she had made both in her abilities and with her friendships she had made with the rest of her team had made her believe that she had finally reached the point where she didn't have to rely on her sister anymore to win her battles. And it burned inside of her, knowing that she still had a ways to go before she was truly able to stand on her own in the metaphorical sense.

Emerald, meanwhile, was beyond nervous as she slowly got up from her seat with a straight-faced mask to stand just off to the side of the airship doors. Weiss had accepted her apology easily enough, but she knew that it had been mostly for show and because of how much she had needed assistance to leave Atlas without running into too much trouble. She still had a long ways to go before she would truly be trusted by some of the people she had wronged the most, even if Weiss hadn't been as affected by any of the schemes she had taken part in. Yang, however…she was not looking forward to telling the truth of what she had aided in the fight with Mercury during the Vytal Festival tournament. Yang's temper was known and feared by many, and she would be walking directly into the mouth of Hell with what she would be admitting. She knew it would come to blows if Yang acted as expected, but if it came to that she knew she wouldn't fight back. Personally, she felt she deserved to let the blonder vent her frustrations on her after everything she had done. It didn't help her nerves and fear, however.

As for Frost and Neo, while most of their thoughts were currently on making sure everyone was safe and making sure that nothing else bad happened, that didn't stop old thoughts from being drawn up every once in a while. For Neo that meant making sure to continue to apologize to those caught up in her actions wen allied with Cinder, even if most of those she apologized to had known in some way that she had been acting under duress and thus didn't blame her nearly as much for things that had happened. For Frost, that meant having to constantly watch over his shoulder in the figurative sense, as he knew that while it was currently silent the Grimm inside of him was quietly biding its time for the moment where it would take control and threaten everything he cared about.

* * *

With all of them half-focused on the thoughts currently going through their minds, only Penny was fully focused on their current whereabouts as they descended the ramp from the ship and walked towards the house. Two figures could be seen exiting the door at the front before closing it and turning to face the group strolling towards them. There was a brief moment of peace as Yang gave a small smile as she leaned against the house next to the door while Taiyang held his arms crossed as they waited patiently.

That is…until Yang caught sight of Emerald and her eyes flashed red.

With a rabid scream, the blonde sprang forward with her hair aflame even though she wasn't armed in any way, her mind completely focused on the green-haired girl in their midst. That same scream also acted as a means for the group approaching to be snapped out of their current thoughts, however, and Frost quickly stepped forward to meet Yang's blow with his good arm, catching her fist with a sharp intake of breath and a wince on his face as his feet slid through the dirt a few inches.

"Yang, stop!" Neo yelled over the sounds of the two combatants struggling against one another, even with Frost at a disadvantage since his other arm was still rather sore and unable to fight back even as Yang tried to struggle around him but not finding any ground.

"Hell, no!" The raging blonde screamed back even as she pushed harder against Frost's attempts to stop her. His arm was currently aglow with the power of his Semblance acting as a brace to keep him on par with the furious woman in front of him, as were both of his legs as he struggled to push back against her continued approach. They all knew it wouldn't last forever, however, as his Semblance could only build up so much power before it eventually depleted itself until he was able to get a proper rest. "You know what she did! What she helped cause! Why are you defending her?!"

"If you'd let us explain, then maybe you'd understand why!" Frost yelled back in a strained voice even as he slid back a couple inches more through the dirt. A wild swing from Yang came from his other side, and without much time to react he was left with no choice as he started to uncomfortably shift his weaker arm to attempt to deflect the blow, even if it meant injuring himself whilst still recovering from his encounter with Penny. The blow never met his arm in an uncomfortable collision however, as Frost felt his body shift from a force pushed against his back and side, causing him to stumble out of his lock with Yang. He turned his body to see who had pushed him, only for his eyes to widen with surprise as Emerald straightened her form and took the full of Yang's punch to the side of her abdomen, launching her through the air for a few feet before bouncing a few feet more and coming to a stop with one hand gripping her side painfully as she stood with a slight hunch and a grimace on her face.

"Emerald, stay back! We can talk her down and explain this!" Frost yelled even as he started sprinting to intercept Yang once again.

"No! She wants this, let her have it! It's what I deserve!" Emerald snapped back, even as she struggled to straighten herself, only to wince and hunch back over as she held her now bruised side as Yang continued to barrel ahead.

Frost ignored her demands as he continued to sprint forward to stop Yang, but he knew that he wouldn't reach them in time as things seemed to slow down for everyone. Emerald slowly started moving forward to meet Yang's assault, while Yang continued sprinting ahead with one arm cocking back to slam against the girl once again. Frost struggled against his wounds as he poured more of his Semblance into his legs to propel himself through larger strides to attempt to reach them sooner. Weiss stood by silently with her arms crossed while Taiyang stood with a disappointed look on his face as he stood witness to everything currently happening. Neo, meanwhile, reacted through the first instinct that came to mind.

* * *

With a quick burst of light as everything seemed to speed up to normal time, Neo rematerialized in between Yang and Emerald as she swung her weapon to deflect Yang's attack just as she had in their fight aboard the train when she had started truly falling to the Grimm essence inside of her at the time. With a deft strike and a quick flip, Yang stumbled backwards as the series of blows connected and threw off her balance. With a grunt of frustration, she rushed Neo in an effort to shove her out of the way only for the smaller girl to dance to the side as she used the hook of her parasol to swing Yang back around her and back in the direction she had come, using her own momentum against her.

"Stop this, both of you!" Emerald called out as she stood with a heavyset frown behind Neo as she stood guard over her. "I want her to do this just as much as she does! Why are you interfering?!"

"Because this doesn't solve anything." Neo stated calmly as she darted around another round of punches and kicks from Yang only for the blonde to once again get thrown back in the opposite direction without actually taking a hit. "Violence doesn't solve anything. She's just too mad to understand right now, so we need to wear her out and make her listen."

Frost, meanwhile, turned to the other person amongst their group. "Weiss, Penny, help us stop her! Try not to hurt her, but we need to tire her o-"

"No."

* * *

Weiss stood calm and resolute even as Frost and Neo looked over in surprise. Neo wasn't able to detract her focus for long however, as she was forced to refocus on Yang in her continued assault. Frost, however, whirled in sudden anger as he faced Weiss with a look of barely contained rage.

"What do you mean, no?" He asked through a tensed jaw and clenched teeth. "You're her teammate, get her to calm down already! She's the most likely to listen to you out of all of us, so just do something!"

"That would imply I want her to stop." Weiss replied calmly as she continued to patiently watch Neo continue to spin Yang around even as she continued her frenzied pursuit of Emerald. "Emerald did things that can't be excused, and she didn't try to fight back like you or Neo did. Why should I stop Yang from getting some justice for the things that have happened to her? You saw what happened to her arm. Could you even begin to imagine the pain she went through, even with the two of you visiting her to see how she was doing? She needs an outlet for some of that pain, and Emerald is the closest thing for her right now."

"But she'll kill her! I could see it in her eyes!" Frost snapped back as he began to march towards Weiss menacingly.

"And you suddenly know her so well? As compared to her own teammate?" Weiss snapped back just as quickly with a look of frustration now etched across her face.

"I don't need to! I've seen faces like that before and I now where it goes!"

"From whom, the faces of the White Fang? Or someone else that happened to work for Torchwick and Cinder when you were forced to do their dirty work? Is that what you base this on?"

"How dare you." Frost's face wrenched up in fury and disgust as his strides became longer and larger as his fists clenched, the dull pain in his arm now forgotten even as he felt his head begin to burn in pain. He didn't care about any of that anymore, however. He only cared about making Weiss understand, even if it meant he had to knock some sense into her. "Where do you get off, posturing to me about how I see things, when up until coming to Beacon you were likely just as arrogant and stuck up as the other nobles in Atlas! You have no right!" As he finished, he brought his arm back to slap her across the face, not realizing that his hand had balled into a fist in his rage.

* * *

Weiss noticed it, however, just as she noticed the white of his left eye turn black and his iris turn red. With a quick use of her Glyphs and a brief back step, she dodged the incoming strike as it made contact with a small outcropping of ice she had formed with her weapon before leaping back. As his hand connected, she used her glyphs again to reshape the buildup of ice into a grip that held him fast even as he grunted and struggled against his binding. His head whipped up to face her with a snarl as he continued to push and pull against the ice, his free arm smashing against the binding constantly despite the injuries he had sustained.

Weiss knew that if this kept up, Frost would likely injure himself in a worse way than he already was, and that was the last thing any of them needed right now. In truth, she did want to tell Yang to stop, but she knew that it was a bad idea at present. For them to be able to work together in the future, even slightly, she knew that Yang needed to work this out of her system now, or who knows when she would completely snap and become a hindrance to all of them when it truly mattered.

So she had chosen to stay out of it, despite how much she disliked the situation.

She had hoped that Yang would have been more calm, but that would have been akin to expecting a volcano to suddenly spout snow. She had known that the moment they landed would result in a skirmish of sorts. What she hadn't expected was for Frost to also turn practically rabid. What had happened since they had all been together at Beacon for him to have changed so suddenly? And why was it only showing now and not when they had been in Atlas? In the end, it didn't matter. What mattered at present was stopping him from doing something truly reckless and then intervene with Yang once she had let out enough of her anger.

"Penny! Stun him before he's able to break free! Enough to incapacitate!" Weiss turned and yelled out quickly to the ginger android who had silently watched everything as it had happened.

She turned to Weiss with a hesitant face as the orders were sent her way. "Are you sure, Weiss? I thought he was our friend and ally. Why would I stun him?"

"Because he is currently a threat to himself, Penny!" Weiss snapped without meaning to as Penny recoiled slightly from the outburst. She paused as she took a deep breath before facing Penny again with a more controlled tone. "He isn't paying attention to his own wellbeing anymore and risks injuring himself further than his current injuries already lie. We need to stop him as quickly as possible so that he isn't able to do anything worse."

The other girl's hesitation lasted only for a few moments before she nodded in recognition. "Right away." With that, she began to sprint in a wide circle even as Frost continued to practically snarl at Weiss as he struggled to rush her once again. As she came up behind him, she activated a pair of taser-like implants built into her hands and placed both hands against his back at the same time before delivering a sharp charge through her system and into his body.

"I'm sorry, friend Frost."

As he heard those words, his world went black with yells of pain fading into his ears even as everything seemed to fall away.

* * *

Neo's focus on Yang was broken for an instant when she heard Frost's yells echo across the clearing. Her head instinctively turned to face the sound even as she saw his body fall into a heap at the ground between Weiss and Penny, a block of ice now slowly melting away from his arm as the two stood silently around him. Her emotions flipped through shock, worry, and rage as she lost sight of Yang completely in her single-minded state at the sight of her friend unconscious on the ground next to what she considered to be her allies. Had they been lied to about Weiss being willing to help them and forgive what had happened? Were she and Emerald also at risk of being turned on, with Frost now out of commission seeing as he was effectively their own heavy-hitter?

While Neo had begun panicking her mind, Yang had whirled around from her most recently failed attempt to reach Emerald, and was now just as adamant in getting Neo out of her way as she was in hitting Emerald. Thankfully, Emerald was still paying attention to the fight, and was able to step forward and shove Neo out of the way even as an uppercut came swinging from Yang and knocked her into the air before she fell to the ground with a cry of pain. Neo turned back to face Emerald in shock as the green-haired girl pulled herself up into an awkward sitting position with one arm propping her up as the other massaged her jaw before moving back to hold her side. She then turned to face Weiss and Penny who silently watched the other fight as it panned out. No matter how she looked at it…she was outnumbered now. And had no idea how to get out of this situation.

Weiss turned to say something to Penny, who nodded before leaning down to carefully pick up Frost's body and carry it over to the house where Taiyang now moved to assist with a strained look of worry on his face. After watching the two carefully take him into the building before shutting the door, Weiss turned back to face the rest of the group as she walked forward slowly.

"Are you done now, Yang?" She spoke out sharply.

"Almost." The blonde replied as her posture changed from life-threatening to one more focused on intimidation. "I just need to ask one more question." She then turned to face Emerald with a look of confusion even as she held her current posture. "Why?"

"Why what?" Emerald asked while wincing with pain as she scoffed. "You're going to need to be more specific."

"Fine then." She turned to face Weiss for a brief moment and a quick smirk. "Two more questions in that case." Yang turned back to face Emerald before continuing, even as Weiss rolled her eyes at the comment. "Why did you keep trying to get in the way of their attempts to block me? And why did you help Cinder?"

"I'll answer the second question first." Emerald replied calmly. "Because I'm a coward."

"Considering you just took hits for people who basically turned on Cinder's plans, I think coward is an odd choice of words."

"I mean I'm a coward for not going against her plans just like the two of them did. I thought there was no way out from under her control, so I just went along with everything she did because it was safer for me that way. But then I saw the two of them stand against her in their own ways, but never completely act on it because they were afraid for the others wellbeing. But despite that…they never gave up hope. They never stopped trying to find the other and right what they had wronged. I never had anyone like that when I was younger. I was just alone on the streets when Cinder found me, and she pretended to care so that I would go along with her until it was too late to back out on my own without risking my life. And while that partially answers the first question, it's also because I'm the one responsible for what happened between yours and Mercury's fight during the last round of the tournament."

"How the heck did you manage that?" Yang asked with another look of confusion.

"Her Semblance." Weiss replied from behind Yang. "She manipulated what you saw to make it look like Mercury was doing something else entirely while he reached out to shake your hand."

"But…" Yang turned back to face Emerald with a look of surprise. "That means you broke your own teammates leg! Why the heck would he agree to that?!"

"Because everything from his knee down is robotic. You didn't actually break his leg, you just knocked it off its hinge and he had to reattach it properly later. I used my Semblance on the paramedics as well to make them see actual bone and skin instead of mechanical parts as they took him away."

"Well…that's a lot to take in, not gonna lie." Yang stated plainly as her posture lost its threatening pose. "You realize I'm still not going to completely trust you for a while, right?"

"The Ice Queen sure doesn't, and I don't blame either of you. I did a lot of bad things, and I may never do enough to deserve forgiveness. But I WANT to try. It's the least I can do after everything that's happened."

"Hey!" Weiss snapped from behind Yang, who only snorted as she reached out a hand to help Emerald up.

"Well, if you keep up with talking like that, I think we'll be good in no time. Just no more messing with my sight, got it?"

Emerald nodded her head as she continued to hold her side and massage her jaw once again. "If it means I take less hits like those, agreed."

Neo chose then to speak up with a sharp tone. "So the two of you are good then? Good." She then turned to face Weiss with a glare. "Now you can explain why you just attacked Frost before I hurt you like Yang hurt Emerald. Or worse."

"He attacked me when I tried explaining why I wasn't going to stop Yang yet. One moment we're talking about things and the next he's leaping like a wild animal at me, while one of his eyes change might I add, with his fist ready to hit me. Care to explain THAT?!" Weiss snapped back as she stepped forward with a menacing tone to face Neo.

"Wait…w-what was that about his e-eye?" Neo stumbled out as worry now etched itself across her face as it paled with fright.

"It changed just like Yang's eyes do, only it was on one side and his entire eye changed to black and red rather than it just changing to red for Yang. And something tells me you know something about that and chose not to tell me back in Atlas. What is going on?!"

Neo didn't even pay attention to Weiss as she turned and sprinted full-tilt towards the house before slamming the door open with a panicked look on her face before sprinting inside.

"Okay…that was…weird." Yang stated uneasily as they all stood there.

"Well, it was bound to happen eventually." Emerald stated with a sad tone as the other two turned to face her.

"You know about this as well?" Weiss asked with suspicion as she and Yang both patiently waited for Emerald to reply.

"Yep. And the long story is boring so I'm going to sum it up real quick. This also doesn't get spoken of to anyone else save for the old guy in there since he's likely suspicious after what just happened in his own yard." Emerald stated plainly.

"Excuse you, that's my dad." Yang retorted.

"Whatever." Emerald stated dismissively before getting serious again.

"The long and short of it is this…there's a Grimm inside Frost. And it's slowly taking over."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"WHAT?!"


	26. Chapter 26

**Apparently two weeks went by a lot faster than I thought. Damn. Anyways, I'm trying something a little different for this chapter, so I hope it doesn't feel too disjointed or seem like a lesser chapter because of it. This is something I've been meaning to do at some point in the story for a while now, but I came up with another hook to play alongside it, so this chapter is the culmination of those two ideas. And on that note, here is the latest chapter since I don't want to take up too much time with my author's notes.**

* * *

Frost slowly opened his eyes as a feeling of grogginess passed over him. His mind was fuzzy as he started to move into a sitting position, his body sore all over for…some reason that he couldn't remember. It was as though all of his muscles had been overused at once, and were choosing now to protest to him in varying waves of discomfort and numbness. He tried to think back to what could have caused this, but nothing seemed to come to mind after he had tried to stop Yang from attacking Emerald. Everything after that seemed to fade into a blurry haze that his brain couldn't seem to decipher.

His mind continued to work overtime as he tried to figure out what seemed off about the current situation, so much so that he was completely unaware of a presence walking up behind him…

* * *

"Where is he?!" Neo practically screeched as she barged through the door to the cottage in her frenzy.

"Down the hall, second door on the left!" A familiar male voice called from within, Neo immediately moving to reach said room in her haste to check on Frost's condition. However, the moment she reached the door, she hesitated, unsure of what she would find within based on Frost's deteriorating state of mind. It seemed like the time left before he succumbed was rapidly being pulled out from under all of them, and that thought alone nearly had Neo running in fear to simply avoid seeing him eventually become the monster she had nearly become…or worse, were he to try something drastic to prevent that from happening, knowing him.

But she held firm, and with a forcefully determined look on her face opened the door to the room, silently hiding away her fears and reservations as she stepped over the threshold and witnessed the contents of the room.

* * *

Frost slowly walked along the path through the woods as he continued walking in what he felt to be the right direction, unsure of exactly where his destination was or how he had gotten into this area in the first place. He continued to have a feeling of wrongness about everything around him, as well as a constant nagging feeling that he was being followed, however every time he moved to look behind him his body would stop as though saying that he shouldn't do that despite his curiosity. And so he continued walking, his footsteps silently hounded by a beast hungry for its next meal.

* * *

His body was calm and motionless as it lay on the mattress of the bed that he had been placed upon by Penny and Taiyang. Neo would have noticed that Penny was standing by in case of assistance while Taiyang patiently attended to his injuries from his battle with said android had she looked anywhere else, but her eyes could only seem to focus on Frost's face. It appeared calm and at peace for the time being, but she knew that was only a mask for what truly went on his mind as the days went on. The two of them had developed a sense of understanding for one another from when they were young- even before their village had been assaulted that allowed them to better know when one was lying or attempting to hide something from someone else.

"How…how is he?" Neo asked as her eyes remained focused on Frost even as the other two turned to face her at the sound of her voice.

Taiyang chuckled lightly as he turned back to finish wrapping a bandage around Frost's more heavily wounded arm. "Well, aside from a few bruises and some minor concussions from being thrown into things a bunch it seems like he'll pull through just fine. Thankfully I've got some familiarity tending to injuries like these given Yang's fighting style, so that worked out well I suppose. However…" Silence hung in the air for a few moments before he turned to face Neo with a more serious expression. "I've never seen someone go into such a bloodthirsty rage like that before, and Yang's Semblance is literally a temper tantrum. He never acted like that when the two of you visited before, so I'll ask you now. What was that? And do we need to keep an eye on him in case it happens again? You may have helped in some way to bring my daughter some hope again, but I won't stand idly by if a threat walks, or in this case collapses, into my home without warning."

"I…" Neo hesitated as she thought about Frost's increasingly frequent outbursts as of late, as well as the number of nights he had awoken with a yell and a cold sweat that had startled both herself and Emerald on some nights. Tears came to her eyes as she struggled to give an answer to a question even she wasn't sure how to reply to. "I don't know. I don't-"

She would have tried to say more were it not for her legs giving out as she collapsed to her knees, tears freely falling down her face as she whimpered in fear, her arms wrapping around her sides as once again her life seemed to collapse around her, taking everything she cared about away in a single breath. Penny, being the one currently standing, was the first to reach Neo as Taiyang stood to hastily move to her as well, a guilt-stricken expression etched across his face as he felt responsible for reducing her to this state of being. The two of them kneeled beside her and tried their best to console her, even as the other three arrived at the door from finishing their discussion outside, only to be witness to the current scene of Neo in tears on the floor while Frost lay silently in the bed.

* * *

The trees began to thin as Frost continued walking along. His mind still failed to remember anything beyond getting into a disagreement with someone in the clearing outside Yang and Ruby's home, and so he surmised that it must have turned into a brawl that had launched him into the tree line and away from the house. The fact that he had been walking for what seemed like such a long length of time and not seen any signs of people or the clearing began to enact an increasing worry in his mind that something had gone horribly wrong or that he was walking in the entirely wrong direction. However, each time he tried to deviate from the direction he was going, his body would again refuse to allow him to change his course and he simply continued to walk straight ahead.

The first thing that he began to notice as the trees thinned further was a slight smell of smoke in the air. He increased his pace as the smell became more pungent, his desire to protect taking hold as his mind told him that he needed to make sure that no one was in danger as he broke the tree line and came to the outskirts of a village on the verge of ruin. Fires raged all over even as chunks of buildings collapsed under their weakened structures. Screams could be heard over the crackling and snapping of wood as people fled back and forth trying to escape the chaos of what was happening.

While his mind wanted to do nothing more run to help the people calling for aid or for someone to retrieve them from a collapsed building, his feet simply continued to walk straight through the village on what seemed to be a predetermined path. Buildings raced by as he sprinted through the streets past houses and people, the screams growing stronger and more frequent as he seemed to bound over debris and bodies with an agility that he didn't know he possessed. By now, even with the use of his Semblance to leap over so many objects and to move so far it would have used a rather sizable chunk of his abilities to maintain such strength in his limbs. However, he felt no signs of fatigue or weariness as he pressed on.

His stride eventually brought him to a building that seemed…familiar…for some reason. His eyes scanned over the building, noticing that it appeared to still be in good condition despite the apparent damage to the other homes in the village. His mind continued to itch, the feeling of wrongness only stronger the closer to the building he moved. There were signs of scratches and minor damage done to the yard and a few burn marks on one wall, but otherwise things seemed oddly safe for a place so near to so much damage. His attention was rapidly refocused however as he sensed a hostile presence off to his side, his body quickly moving to intercept it before it could hurt him. His reflexes were only just quick enough to shift his position to narrowly avoid a large broadsword aimed directly at the center of his torso, a man with broad shoulders and a determined look standing across from him as he panted heavily.

"Honey! I found another one trying to reach the house! This one's quicker than the rest though, might need a hand with stopping it!" His powerful voice carried over the din of fire and chaos, even as another voice responded from what sounded like the opposite side of the building.

"We're a little busy with what looks like a pack of Beowolves behind the house! Can you try to delay it at the very least?"

"Dunno! This guy's pretty quick, and I'm not sure how much muscle he's got under there! I'll see what I can do though!" The man called back even as he took a stance opposite Frost, even as Frost felt himself hunch slightly towards the ground as though to pounce directly at the man despite the large sword he wielded. His mind screamed at him to run, to get away from the threat and from everything here that just felt WRONG, but his instinct seemed to demand that he see this fight through, even if it meant his own demise.

With a mighty yell, the man started running forward even as his body seemed to fade from existence for a brief moment with a shimmering of light. Frost's body responded in turn as he clenched his teeth and sprinted towards the man as well. His hand reached out to grab onto the man's hand and attempt to create a struggle over the possession of the sword, only for it to pass through what felt like warm water as the man's attack continued unhindered into Frost's abdomen, his body lurching back slightly as the sword stabbed into his gut and lodged itself there as he stumbled back. It didn't hurt as much as Frost had expected however, and the man also seemed surprised by the fact that he was still alive even after being stabbed in such a vital part of his body. His hand reached down to pull the blade from his body, and after a brief struggle to remove the offending piece of metal from him, it slid away even as blood began to quickly leak from the large wound, though also not as much as he would have expected to be losing.

His arm swung a few times to test the weight of the weapon even as the man slowly began to move towards the house and away from the person he had just stabbed with a look of fear etched across his face. Frost would have normally turned and walked away, knowing that the man was now unarmed and unable to harm him. But he had stabbed him, and that had hurt. It seemed only fair that he return the blade to its owner besides. The protests from his mind continued on, though much quieter now as he slowly stalked towards the man as he ran around the side of the building, likely to join the people he had been calling to moments before.

"Danielle, Collette! Get the kids and run! This is worse than we feared, it's too dangerous!"

"What are you talking about Will?! We just took down the entire pack with ease between Danielle and I! What could possibly be so bad about one person...Where's your sword?"

"Back there, in the hands of that "one guy"! I don't know what kind of Semblance he has, but it's like the blade barely fazed him, and he's barely even losing blood even from such a large wound! We'd be too focused on fighting just him that we wouldn't be able to protect the others at the same time! We need to reach the landing zone for the escape vehicles so that we can get away from all of this!"

"A Semblance that slows bleeding and might even have some regenerative effects? Pfft, I can deal with that with my eyes closed, remember?"

Frost continued marching slowly around the house even as he heard a third voice join the mix, even as the other two continued to debate.

"Danielle, if he's too fast for even William to hit, how are you supposed to hit him even without a Semblance? You can block Semblances for a brief amount of time, but physical skill is still something you have to go up against all the time! Your weapon is too large and unwieldy for going up against a broadsword like Will's!"

"Hey, just because I thought it would be more effective to wield a mace to knock people out quickly doesn't mean I don't know how to use it against something quick! If I recall correctly, I've won against you and Will loads of times even with your faster weapons. I've got this."

"…Fine. But be careful. Something about all of this still doesn't sit right with me."

Frost slowly finished walking around the side of the building even as three figures all turned to face in his direction as one of his feet crunched some twigs and leaves underfoot. Before any of them had time to react however, he quickly pounced with a speed that didn't seem right, even to him, as he plunged the blade into the side of the person closest to him, a woman that wielded what looked like a large bow with blades on the tips that likely acted as a means of slashing any opponent that came too close to her. His eyes briefly passed to her back, looking for a quiver to hold arrows for said bow, but that thought was quickly interrupted as a bright projectile of energy lanced out of her opposite hand with a wide spread, launching him through the air for a few feet before he landed and slid to a stop back at the other end of the yard.

"Shit…" The woman grimaced as she held the same hand, now shaking, to her side to attempt to stop the bleeding from the large wound. "You didn't mention he was THAT fast…"

"Because he wasn't! If he had been able to move like that, then I shouldn't have been able to stab him in the first place!"

"So…what? This guy has more than one Semblance? You do know how that sounds right?" The third woman asked as she moved to stand slightly in front of the other two as she hefted a large mace onto one shoulder as she brushed back dark brown hair from her face and away from her eyes. For a moment, Frost thought he saw one eye flash to a different color, but then they were the same again, and it simply left his train of thought.

"I don't like it as much as you, but it's something we've known could happen for a while. Are you still sure that you can fight this…thing? I'm not sure calling it a person is applicable anymore if I'm right." The man asked with a worried tone even as he had the wounded woman leaning against him for support. "Can you even stop two Semblances if their coming from the same place?"

"Dunno. It's never happened before so I've had no way to test it. Guess the only way we're getting out of here is if we test it to find out. Get the kids away in the meantime; I'll delay it as much as I can."

"And leave you to die? We already lost one of our team; I'm not letting you die too!" The man refused to move, even as the woman on his side pushed off of him to stand on shaky legs under her own control.

"We may have all accepted that Logan has been gone for a while, but that doesn't mean we're letting you join him so soon. Especially since you still have some family left to care for until they're old enough to fend for themselves. We're staying to finish this."

"…Fine. But after this, we're even. Got it?"

The other two nodded even as they all turned back to face Frost. He'd heard the words they had been speaking, but for some reason they meant very little as they passed into his ears.

The only thing he was focused on was the fight that was about to happen, and he intended to win!


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Notes to follow the chapter this time around due to some updated news.**

* * *

Yang, Emerald, and Weiss all looked on in confusion and worry at what they had walked into. Between Neo on the floor in tears, and Frost lying motionless on the bed, their minds quickly began to twist to dark places they'd rather not go to.

" _But…all I did was freeze him and tell Penny to incapacitate him…how could he…_ " Weiss thought to herself as she looked to her hands as though they were venomous snakes.

"He's not….dead…is he?" Emerald asked, her bluntness cutting through the silence like a warm knife through butter.

Taiyang's face jolted up at the sound of other people in the room, his eyes wide with surprise even though he should have known they would show up eventually. For a moment his mouth was stuck open until he caught on to what was asked and snapped himself out of his brief stupor.

"No…no, he's fine…I think." Taiyang stated, hesitation evident in his voice while Neo's body continued to convulse as tears continued falling down her face while Penny knelt beside her in silence, a hand rested on her shoulder in the hopes of comforting the grief-stricken girl.

"But then…why's she in tears if he's not dead?" Yang asked as she gestured to Frost's body for a moment. "What happened?"

"It…may have been something I said that did this." His voice was filled with regret as he hung his head in shame and walked over to the window to look outside in silence. His eyes flickered to something only he could see for a moment before returning to the group in the room. "I asked her if she might know anything about what's different about him now, with him acting the way he did after they arrived. I don't know what's gone on, but whatever is she's broken up inside about it."

"…It's the Grimm, isn't it." Weiss spoke for the first time since walking into the house, her expression turning to steel to hide her own doubts and fears for the time being.

"Grimm? Yang, what's she talking about?" Taiyang asked with confusion in his voice as he turned back to face the group after hearing what Weiss had said.

"It's not good, dad. Turns out that at some point a number of months ago, even before we had run into him in Vale and learned about everything that had happened, he and Neo had been dosed with some sort of drug that hadn't seemed to affect Frost. We all thought it was some sort of mind control drug, but it turns out that it was some sort of Grimm essence that would make a person stronger but also more savage. Frost was able to remove it from Neo's system using his Semblance somehow, but ever since then he's been showing more and more signs of the same drug according to Emerald, here. None of them know how to remove it since he can't funnel his own Semblance back into himself in the same way, so he's just been dealing with it and trying to keep it contained in the hopes they can find a cure." Yang replied as she finished relaying everything that had been explained to her and Weiss back in the yard before they had gone back to the house.

"A person with a Grimm inside of them?" Taiyang spoke with an unsure tone as he looked over to the sleeping boy on the bed. "It couldn't be…"

"Mr. Xiao Long, do you know something we don't?" Weiss asked as she took a small step forward.

"It's just a guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same case…" He spoke to himself as he put a hand to his chin in thought. "The signs are all there, and it's just too convenient for it not to be…"

"Dad! What is it?" Yang exploded in frustration, her hands balled into fists as she took rapid steps in her father's direction. She stopped however when he put up a hand in front of her and turned to face the group with a serious expression.

"Neo." The smaller girl moved her head to look at the man, her face still wet with tears though they had since stopped falling as she simply knelt on the floor taking everything in. "I'm only going to talk about this if it's okay with you to hear it. I don't know how you'll react so I need to know if you're okay with hearing the truth."

"The truth?" Her voice was hoarse, likely due to the crying and gasping she had just recently finished doing. "The truth…about what?"

"The truth behind what happened to your village when you were children." Qrow stated as he walked into the room from behind everyone.

* * *

Frost felt his body pounce towards the group of three in front of him, already severely weakened since one was without a weapon and another was badly injured even though they could still fight. His body quickly moved across the damp grass beneath him, his one arm swinging back as he brought up the sword he had stolen from the man holding up the bleeding woman towards the one person still uninjured and armed with a weapon. He had never taken the chance to really notice what type of weapon it was as his mind and eyes had been primarily focused on the people in front of him, but it was at this moment that he caught the glimmer of steel as a massive battle-axe began to fill his vision. The next moment he felt his body fly back across the ground and return to where he had roughly been only moments ago. He looked down to see a sizable wound on his abdomen over the preexisting wound from the sword that had been stabbed into him, a large gash across his chest that left his body feeling warm, but not unable to fight.

"Well…I guess that proves that. He's definitely got more than one Semblance in there." The woman stated calmly as she continued to hold the axe in front of her while speaking to the people off to her side. "I used my own power to try and stop something, and he definitely slowed down compared to when he got you before, Collette. Looks like he's still able to take some nasty hits and keep going though. I should be fine though, as long as I can keep his speed locked up, then I can just whittle him down with my own weapon. I'll try to get your sword back for you the next time he comes at us, alright Will?"

"Just be careful. You know what happens if you get too cocky." The man responded plainly as he stood beside his wife as a bolt of energy began to form along her bowstring. Moments later, a shot arched forth from it as hit Frost's chest, his body once again lurching slightly as he felt the warm bolt slam into him and then dissipate moments later, leaving a sizable burn mark on his chest just above his heart.

"He's durable. I can't get at his vital spots if his body will just resist my attacks like that." The woman with the bow stated as she wobbled on her feet for a moment before collecting herself and standing firm once again before nocking another pair of arrows from out of nowhere.

The man looked back and forth between the two of them before shrugging his shoulders and taking a deep breath. "Aw, fuck it."

"Will, what are you talking abo-" The woman with the axe started before the man started sprinting forward with a yell straight towards Frost as he held up the sword in defense of himself. When he took a swing to try and decapitate the man however, his body simply shimmered once again as the blade passed harmlessly through him before he then grabbed into the pommel of the blade in Frost's hand and began to struggle for control of it. "You idiot! What are trying to prove after what you just said about Logan?!"

"I'm giving you an open shot, you dunce! I can just phase your axe through me when you swing it while I hold back the weapon so that you can get a solid hit in! Did you seriously forget about that trick, already?!"

The woman with the axe blinked for a moment before slapping herself on the face in shame for a moment before reaching her other hand down to grip the handle of her axe before sprinting forward. With a mighty yell of her own, the weapon came arching down from her right side, intent on carving open a hoe in Frost's chest so that they could reach the heart of this monstrosity in front of them. The man's body shimmered once again for a moment as the weapon slid smoothly through his torso and directly towards Frost's torso. What the two of them failed to notice however, was that when he had activated his Semblance to allow the weapon to pass through him, Frost had let go of the sword in his hand before bringing his arm back with a vicious look on his face.

A gush of blood few through the air as the attack hit its mark.

* * *

"I don't understand." Neo stated plainly as she slowly got to her feet with Penny's help. "What are you doing here, Qrow? And what do mean by the truth about what happened? It was attacked by Grimm and we were forced to evacuate. That was the day that Frost and I both lost our parents as they defended villagers trying to escape to safety."

"While that's not wrong about what happened…it's not the entire set of facts." Qrow stated as he crossed his arm over his chest. "There were Grimm there, but there was also….something else. Calling them bandits wouldn't be right, even though that's what it was thought at first as to what they were when the reports came back. They were…abominations, to put it simply."

"Abominations? What are you talking about?" Weiss asked for the group as she gave the drunk a confused a hesitant look at his sudden appearance.

"There were people there as well. People…that were merged with Grimm."

* * *

Frost's chest bled freely as the axe sat upon the ground, an open gash visibly showing some of his innards to the outside world. His body wobbled slightly as it tried to stay upright, but the loss of blood had become too much and his form fell to the ground with a wet splat as he landed in a puddle of mud that had formed from the sheer amount of rain that had been falling. As he did so, he felt his arm slide away from something warm before falling limp beside him. He looked over to see why it felt warm, only for his mind to reel back in shock at the sight he bore witness to.

A claw like that of a Beowolf, clutching two hearts and coated in blood.

He then looked over to the people he had been fighting, only to witness their bodies slowly fall as well, a large gaping hole in each of their chests as the life began to leave their eyes. The moment their forms hit the ground, he could hear a shrill sound coming from off to the side, his head slowly turning to face the one woman still badly wounded as her knees gave out and she slowly began sliding across the ground towards the two bodies motionless in front of her. Her eyes briefly looked in his direction before a look of malice filled her eyes and a large ball of burning energy filled one hand, smoke rising from it as any rain that hit it rapidly evaporated. The next thing he knew, his vision was heavily distorted as he felt the energy slam into one side of his face, likely destroying one side of his face from the sheer intensity of the attack. Her body then slowly moved to lean over the two dead people lying on the grass her chest heaving with sobs of despair as she prayed for something to bring them back to life. Her head turned to face something as though she noticed something, though Frost was unable to move his own body to see what it was as well.

Her mouth opened to speak as she began talking to whoever had just arrived. "You'll never get away with this you bastard. They won't let you live after what you've done this time."

"That's so sweet of you to claim, Mrs. Frost. Or is that Miss Frost now, since your husband appears to be dead. Perhaps you'll even go back to your maiden name in the time you have left. Hmm?"

The woman spat in the direction of the male voice that had spoken to her. "Go to hell, you monster."

"Oh, my dear. I've been living it ever since I realized how foolish I used to be. One day I may be free of it however. As for you, give your husband and friend my regards if you see them again."

And then a long blade pierced her chest, stabbing clean through her heart as she choked on her own blood before falling limp next to the forms of her companions. A slight whisper left her voice as the light left her eyes.

"Cobalt…please be safe…wherever…you are…"

" _Wait…how does she know my name…no…nononono…"_ Frost's mind began to race as the last words she'd spoken and everything else they'd said now rushed back through his mind as the adrenaline and bloodlust from the fight wore off.

"Hmm? Didn't catch that I'm afraid." The male voice went silent as though awaiting a response before footsteps began moving in Frost's direction. "Oh well. No matter. I've collected enough data from this little test that should allow us to complete our research very soon. It's a shame what happened to our test subjects though. At least the heart is undamaged."

An outline stepped into Frost's view as his vision began to darken, his awareness slowly fading into the deep as a hand reached down towards his chest and he felt a pulling sensation before his mind went blank.

* * *

Everyone was silent as they continued to sit around Frost's silent form as Neo replaced the damp cloth resting on his forehead while Taiyang and Qrow spoke in the next room.

"Why now of all times, Qrow? Haven't they been through enough?" The blonde man asked in a frustrated tone as he gestured to the wall that separated them from the next room. "Did they really need this information now of all times?"

"Tai, look. I get that you don't like this. I'm not a fan of it, either. But they need to know what they could be up against if the rumors I've heard are true."

"What rumors, Qrow? All everyone seems to be talking about lately is what happened to Vale, and who's next to be attacked."

"That's what most of the people are talking about. But I've also heard stories of new types of Grimm appearing from nowhere, and in some cases people disappearing without a trace. If it's anything like what happened the last time…it won't end well. And if it is the same person…then we all need to be on our guard for what's to come."

* * *

Frost's eyes slowly opened as he awoke in the next room. Everyone turned to face him when those that were looking visibly reacted to him waking up. They all stepped towards him out of concern as he looked around to see who was there, only for his eyes to stop on Neo's face, taking note of the puffiness of her eyes and the tear trails still lingering on her face. His mouth opened to tell her about what he'd seen, but he instead held back, for fear of how she might react to the truth of how their parents had died that night.

At that moment, he decided. Even if his soul was unable to be saved from this point on, he wouldn't stop until he felt the life of the man who had stabbed his mother end…by his own hands.

* * *

 **Alright, so that is the end of that part of the story. More of the past has come to light, and things are beginning to form into the final arc of this story. For those that have been sticking with it to this point, I hope you've enjoyed it despite the occasional grammar mistake that I've had happen in my writing. Anyways, on to other news.**

 **For those that have read the update I posted last week, I will be doing a much tighter schedule going forward to get myself into a full-on routine for how I do this i the future. From now on, I will be posting this story around the same time every two weeks, with the posts hopefully going up around each Thursday or Friday. Given how inconsistent my work schedule can be sometimes, it may have some slight variations from time to time, but I'll try my best to keep it relatively similar.**

 **The main reason for this is that I will be writing another story that will be having it's first chapter released next week around the same time. It will not be focused on RWBY however, as it will be written for the universe of My Hero Academia (for those that may have seen/heard of the show/manga). I have found myself just as invested in the continuation of that show as I am with RWBY, and so I want to throw my hat in the ring at writing in that universe as well. For those that may be interested, keep an eye out as next Thursday rolls around since it'll be getting posted around the same time on the weeks I'm not writing RWBY.**

 **And with that, I bid you all a good day.**


	28. Chapter 28

The majority of the group sat silently about the room that Frost had been resting in. Ever since he had awoken from his blackout and his injuries had been properly tended to, everyone was now unsure as to where they should go from here. Due to the lack of communications from either Blake or Ruby following their arrival in Patch, and the lack of information they had in regards to what Ruby was doing in Mistral, no one was quite sure which person would be better to go after. Eyes were either trained on the roof, floor, or out the nearby window as each person thought to themselves about the best course of action.

Meanwhile, Qrow and Taiyang had finished their discussion in the next room ad were now quickly striding over to rejoin the kids currently thinking amongst themselves. The two still did not see eye-to-eye as to what they should be informed of, but that didn't matter at this point in time due to how serious things seemed to be getting across Remnant. An emergency signal received on their Scrolls immediately had them going to inform the others of the change in events, despite their disagreements.

All heads in the room turned as the doorknob turned to see what the two men wanted, confusion etched across each of their faces at the expressions on their faces as they entered. After everything that had happened, what could possibly have the two looking more concerned than they had already looked when they had gone to talk earlier?

"…Alright, kiddos." Qrow began after looking around to make sure all eyes were turned to face the two adults. "Looks like rest time is over a little sooner than we thought. Looks like our path is being picked for us."

"What do you mean, Uncle Qrow?" Yang was the first to ask as everyone turned fully to face the two rather than just turning their heads, now fully interested in what was happening. "It's not Cinder again, is it?"

"Far as we can tell, no." Qrow shook his head as he responded. "But that's only what we can tell from the message. As far as we know she could be on her way as we speak, even if this isn't quite like what happened in Beacon."

"A little more info than vague statements and riddles would be nice, you know." Emerald retorted from the corner of the room, to which Qrow turned his head and quirked an eyebrow at the young girl's sass.

"Well if you'd all stop butting into the conversation then I could get to the point." Qrow retaliated before taking a quick swig from his flask. "Anyways, we got an emergency message from outside the kingdom. Something that I think you'd all be interested to see."

"If it's just a message, why not just read it to us?" Weiss asked with a perplexed tone to her voice. "Trying to get all of us crowded in to read it makes no sense."

"That would be right, IF it were in fact just a written message. Whoever sent this somehow got a visual recording of what was going on. We have no idea how they got the message this far given the CCT tower in Vale not being operational, but it's still a big deal. Look for yourselves."

With that statement made, Qrow pulled out his Scroll and turned it to face the group before engaging the playback feature on the message that had just been received moments ago.

What played back had all eyes wide in shock.

* * *

It was a literal war-zone. Fire and debris littered the area as buildings were damaged and people went running in the streets. However, one thing of note stood out for every individual that passed by.

They were all Faunus.

Whatever was going on, it was likely in a place where only Faunus resided. And there were very few places truly like that in all of Remnant. That mattered little however as a sizeable pack of Ursas came lumbering by, the group a larger number than the average bunching of Ursas one tended to find out in the wilds. Moments later another pack of Grimm came from a different direction, comprised of both Beowolves and a few Boarbatusks. In the distance outlines of flying Grimm like Nevermore's and Griffins could be seen as well. It also begged another strong question.

Why were so many in Menagerie at once? The continent was so isolated from the other kingdoms, even its neighbor Mistral, that this many Grimm appearing in one place was uncommon, even for a place that didn't have as sizeable a force as the other kingdoms to defend itself with.

The questions would have to wait inside their thoughts however as the recording continued. The view panned briefly, turning so that a larger view of the damage could be visible. As far as the eye could see, smoke was rising from numerous buildings as screams and yells could be heard echoing across the area. Within moments, a group of Griffins flew by, their screeches overpowering the rest of the sounds for a brief instant as they passed.

The camera then panned once more, this time to reveal the face of a random male with scales lining the sides of his face. His face looked weary and his eyes urgent as he began to speak to the device in his hand that he must have used to record the message.

"This is a message to anyone that can hear us. A large group of Grimm has somehow arrived in Menagerie and we can't fight them off on our own. They almost seem like their actions are organized, going after strategic points to cripple our chances to defend ourselves. If this goes on much longer…" He paused as his eyes flitted to the surrounding area, a look of desperation etched on his face as he looked about before turning back to the screen. "There won't be much left if this keeps up. We'll likely be losing communications soon at this rate if things don't change for the better. If this is able to reach anyone, please send as much help as possible. We can't survive on our own."

The man then began reaching for the device, likely to stop the recording before his head turned at what sounded like a door opening. His head turned to face whoever had entered the room before he began to speak.

"Is it time to go alr- Wait, who are you people?" The angle of the camera moved as the man stood up, as it appeared that he had been taking the recording from a lower position, likely to avoid being seen as he made the recording. "What are you doing with my wife?! This isn't the time to be attacking each other, there are Grimm out there! We need to help each other if we're going to survive this! What kind of idiots are y-"

The man's voice was rapidly replaced with a gurgling sound before the camera shifted once again and changed perspective so that it was facing the floor at on odd angle. A female scream could be heard ringing through the speakers before it was silenced with a sharp bang. Moments later, the view changed one final time as a gloved hand came into view and lifted the screen to see whoever had just arrived.

A face covered in a telltale mask came into view, the only discernable features apparent on the person's body being two small horn-like protrusions coming from the mask and a mop of messy red hair on his head as the view was limited to just a headshot of the individual.

"This is a message to the kingdoms of Remnant. We have had enough of your petty leadership driving our people into the dark and shunning us from society. If you send anyone to assist the fools that choose not to side with us, then they will be treated as the enemy and attacked on sight. This is your final warning. We will not be ignored any longer, and you will listen to us."

And with that, the message cut out.

* * *

"…What in the hell was that?" Frost was the first to speak, a strong look of concern etched on his face, and though his fists were both tightly clenched at his sides the only thing truly keeping him from freaking out once again at the scene was a calming hand placed on his arm by Neo as she had noticed his expression part way through the video playback.

"That was a declaration of war if I've ever heard one." Qrow responded calmly as he looked over the group of children processing the new information. His eyes stopped on Yang however, her eyes bright red and her hair burning somewhat.

Taiyang had noticed this as well, and quickly moved to try and stem the potential outbreak before it happened. "Yang, sweetheart. You need to calm down."

All of the other eyes turned to face the blonde brawer, her face set in a wicked snarl as her chest heaved with haggard breaths. Tears streamed from her eyes as a light crunching sound could be heard coming from Yang's knuckles as they popped all at once.

"Dad. Shut up." Her voice was barely controlled as the words seethed through her clenched teeth, her torso twitching as her muscles tightened across her arms. "I don't need you telling me to calm down. I need you to tell me how quickly we can get to Menagerie before I break something."

"Yang, you can't just go running in alone without a plan. You'll just get injured again, or worse!" Her father pleaded with her as he grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her lightly with a determined look on his face.

"She's not going alone." Frost's voice cut through the tense silence. "I can't say the same for a plan, but that doesn't matter. This is more serious then you realize." His head turned to face Neo and Emerald before continuing. "You know what this sounds like, right?"

Both of the girls nodded their heads, the others in the room giving them questioning looks aside from Taiyang and Yang as the former tried to keep the latter from going on a temper tantrum.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Weiss snapped, her expression set in a frown as she demanded information rather than being kept in the dark.

"He's talking about a pack of Beowolves that the three of us ran into while we were travelling through Atlas." Neo replied sharply. "They were acting organized just like these Grimm in Menagerie were. There was some sort of crystal that a larger one was protecting, and once we destroyed it the Grimm disappeared and we were able to return the villagers to their homes."

" _So they're showing up in more places than we thought then, huh?_ " Qrow pondered to himself while those unaware gave Neo a surprised look at the information they had revealed.

"Be that as it may, you can't seriously expect us to let a bunch of children go off and run into something they're not prepared for! After what happened at Beacon, as a Huntsman I can't let any of you go out and there and risk yourselves when you still need proper training!" Taiyang replied as Yang finally started to cooldown as she took deep breaths.

"I don't think you need to worry about their safety as much as you think, Tai." Qrow responded from the edge of the group. "They've all been through serious stuff like this before and come out of it stronger. We can't just set them on the sidelines every time this happens. They won't get stronger that way."

"Just because that was how you grew up Qrow that doesn't mean I'm letting any of them do it, too! They're still children! They could die!"

"So could we when we were at Beacon training with Summer and Raven. That didn't change the fact that it was part of why we had chosen to be Huntsman. To defend those that couldn't defend themselves. Remember?"

"I remember fully well." Taiyang snapped back, his face turning to give Qrow a glare. "And look where it has us now. One of our team dead and one gone missing because they decided to abandon us. And you still think it's worth it to put them through this at such a young age?"

"Yes. Because I know they won't make the same mistakes we did." Qrow raised a hand to silence the blonde male as he opened his mouth to retort. "They'll still make some mistakes, but that's a part of life. And some of them have already had to learn how to deal with said mistakes. Keeping them in a glass cage won't solve anything, it'll just make them more vulnerable to something that comes at them."

The blonde male was silent as he stood looking at the dark-haired drunk before taking a deep breath and walking out of the room and towards the kitchen with a defeated look on his face. Before leaving however, he stopped by Qrow's body and leaned over to mumble a few words into his ear.

" _I hope you know what you're doing Qrow. If she gets hurt because of you, you know what the consequences will be._ "

Qrow's face took on a somber look as he turned to mumble back.

" _I know, and you can bet your ass I'll never forgive myself if it does happen. She'll be fine, I promise._ "

The others looked about each other before turning to Qrow with confused looks.

"Should…I go talk to him?" Yang asked her Uncle with a concerned voice.

"No. He'll be fine. Just needs some time to breath is all. As for us," Qrow began as he walked over to the door of the room and turned back to face the group. "We've got a flight to catch to Menagerie. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can find out how bad things have gotten since that message got sent out."

With varying looks of concern and hesitation, the rest of the room's residents all filed out of the room and grabbed their weapons before going out to the yard before boarding the airship as Qrow took the co-pilots seat while Weiss started up the giant machine. Yang hung back for a moment at the door before turning to her father with a sad look on her face.

"I promise, dad. I won't do what Raven did. I'll come back. And I'll make sure to bring Ruby with me."

Her father looked over from the window he stood staring out of before giving a deep sigh and walking over to his daughter before wrapping her in a tight hug.

"I know you will. You're a Xiao Long after all. Just promise me make sure to promise me that you won't get hurt like at Beacon again."

"I will. After all, this time I know what I'm up against."

With that, the younger blonde quickly ran over to the airship before climbing aboard, her father looking on with a worried look on his face as his daughter's last words played through his mind.

"I wish I could believe that, Yang." His voice was low and full of hesitation. "But I don't think any of us really knows what we're up against anymore."

* * *

 **As promised, here is the latest update to the story. Turns out that once I push myself a little harder it's a lot easier to maintain a routinely update with this. That and the fact that I can manage writing two different stories at once, something I honestly didn't believe I could do effectively. Anyways, hope you all are enjoying things so far, and this way those of you reading this have a small something to tide you over until the Volume 5 release. For those interested, last week I did post the first chapter to the My Hero Academia story I'm also working on, and it will be updated again next week. As for this story, I will see you all again on October 26 for the next update. Peace!**


	29. Chapter 29

Frost silently gazed out the cockpit window as the group flew in the direction of Menagerie. His arms were presently crossed over his chest as he turned back for a moment to look over the rest of the group. His eyes slowly scanned over the group as they all patiently waited for their arrival to Menagerie.

Weiss continued to sit at the helm of the ship, her eyes occasionally flicking over different instruments aboard the ships controls as they kept their course. Qrow was currently lounging in the co-pilots seat next to her with his feet rested on the console, much to Weiss' disdain given the sideways glare she gave anytime her line of sight passed in his general direction. The rest of the group were all in the back of the ship tending to their weapons and gear to make sure everything was up to par for what was likely to be another large-scale battle.

At the thought of weapons, his eyes turned to face one of his hands as he clenched and unclenched it a few times to ease the tension he could feel in his muscles. Frost sometimes wondered if his own body being the only weapon he had was a good thing and remembered the gauntlet infused with Dust that he had used back in Vale. Despite it being lost at some point during the attack on Beacon, he never felt too attached to it due to not having it for long. Maybe one day he would try using something again so that he wouldn't have to rely on his Semblance as much. That thought would have to wait however, as time was not on their side for him to attempt to master a brand new weapon.

His gaze then focused on his faded reflection in the glass rather than the view beyond as he looked at his own face. His eyes were their normal white and blue, however he could still imagine the one eye replaced with black and red as he felt a phantom pain in his hands from the burning sensation of Grimm whenever he had touched them at the village in Atlas. He knew that it had something to do with the Grimm essence in side of him, but the fact that it burned to the touch stilled confused him. Was it because of the human part of him that was still trying to reject the bestial nature of the Grimm, despite it being a slow war of attrition in favour of the Grimm? It made the most sense.

Meanwhile, the others were talking to each other in the rear of the ship to pass the time.

"…And you threw him into a dumpster?" Yang asked with a hint of a smirk on her face as she addressed Emerald.

"More like he fell into it to be honest," Emerald replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I guess he wanted to get back to his roots or something."

The blonde let out a hearty laugh as closed her eyes with mirth for a brief instant. "Serves him right, I suppose. Keep that up and I think it'll be a hell of a lot easier to trust you. I'd say you're making progress at least."

"Wait, what?" Emerald's face showed clear surprise as she stared back. "It hasn't even been a full day since you wanted to pound me into the ground, how the hell can you even say that?"

"It's probably because you're actually being honest to both others and yourself for once, Emerald." Neo replied as she calmly sat to the side with a smile. "It's a lot easier to believe in someone when it doesn't feel like they're hiding something."

"Maybe…" Emerald turned silent as she looked towards the floor in thought, a small grin forming on her face as Yang and Neo's words sank in.

"…Is there anything I can do to be of assistance, friends?"

"Holy crap!" Yang jumped in her seat as Penny's voice came from one of the other occupied seats of the ship. Neo had been startled as well, however her reaction had been to simply whirl and stare wide-eyed at the android with her weapon slightly drawn before she calmed down with a deep breath.

"Penny, why didn't you say something when we took off in Patch?" The two-toned girl questioned while a hand rested on her chest as he slowly worked to calm her own racing heartbeat.

"It did not seem like the appropriate time given how quiet everyone was being. I thought that you had all needed some time to think before I asked." The red-haired girl stated with clear intent. "But now that people seem less tense I thought it was the best time to ask!"

"Maybe next time you could tap someone on the shoulder or something instead of scaring them half-to-death!" Yang snapped back as she gave the girl a half-hearted glare.

"I will take that into consideration!" The salute Penny gave made everyone deadpan for a moment before the conversation continued.

"Could you try and activate your emergency beacon again like when we were flying to Patch?" Weiss questioned from the front, apparently having been listening in to the exchange of words.

"Who would you like me to reach, Weiss?"

"See if you can reach Ruby again, we need to know where she is once this situation in Menagerie is dealt with so we know where to go next."

"Right away!" Penny's eyes began to whirl and glow like before as a faded view screen appeared on the wall opposite of her, currently filled with static. "Calling friend Ruby!"

Everyone was silent as the sound of static filled the air as they patiently waited for a response from the other side. Their patience was rewarded moments later when the screen began to form a rough shape that seemed to be moving somewhat.

"What is…thing doing now…piece of junk…" A short-tempered voice crackled through as the picture began to form into a more coherent image as Ruby's face came into view.

"Ruby! Stop playing with your scroll again and just hold it steady!" Yang's voice sharply cut out as the picture suddenly stopped moving moments later. All of them were suddenly worried that they had lost the signal so soon after getting through before a high pitched squeal was magnified by the speakers built into Penny's system.

"Yang?! Is that you? How are you calling right now? I thought the CCT in Vale was down!" The energetic scythe-wielder practically squeaked with glee from the other side.

"Your pal Penny is helping with that. Something about the tech she has built into her system or something, I don't know." The older sister responded without flinching from the squeal like everyone else in the cabin had.

Qrow, meanwhile, continued to slouch with his feet aboard the console in the cockpit while Weiss had her head turned slightly to better hear the call.

"Wait, you're with Penny? That means you must be with the others! Wait, is dad okay?" Ruby's voice suddenly filled with worry as she mentioned her father.

Yang bristled somewhat before replying. "Yeah, he's fine. No thanks to you suddenly leaving though. Why would you do that without talking to him? You told me you were planning on leaving, why not him?"

"I…" The younger girl hesitated before responding, her expression strong and determined for those that could see it. "I knew that he would say no, and I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. Not after what happened to Beacon."

"Too much of a team leader to follow orders anymore, huh?" Qrow's voice came from off to the side as he got up from his seat and walked over to be able to see the screen of the conversation. "Getting a bit big for yourself, aren't you squirt? Though I guess it makes up for the height problem."

"I keep telling you, I'm not short for my age! Wait…Uncle Qrow?! You're there too?!"

"Yup, and kiddo, if you're short compared to me, you're short. No question about it."

"But why are all of you together? What's going on?"

"There's been word of trouble in Menagerie involving the White Fang and a bunch of Grimm, so we're going to check it out. Where are you?"

"We're on a boat to Menagerie right now! We saw a White Fang ship fly overhead the last time we talked to everyone and we followed the direction it was going until we reached a boating town on the edge of Anima! We should be there soon, too!"

"No, you're not. Turn around and head back to Mistral right now." Yang reprimanded from her seat as she got up with her fists clenched and a stern look on her face.

"I'm not running away, Yang! Especially now that I know that the faunus are in danger! It's not right!"

"You'll be outnumbered and outmatched against that many opponents with the four of you! How are you supposed to help when you'll likely end up in trouble as well?!" The blonde's eyes went red with rage as smoke seemed to come off of her form due to her Semblance starting to activate once again.

"…I don't care. We'll see you when you get here." Ruby's tone was like stone after glaring back at her sister for a few moments before she responded. The call then immediately shut off once she was done, however Yang wasn't finished by the look of things.

"Don't you dare hang up on me, young lady! Ruby! Ruby, get back on this call!" Her voice increased in volume as Weiss sighed and flipped a switch on the control board. A whirring sound filled the air briefly as the hatch for the ship opened and exposed the open air to them, the sound of rushing wind filling all of their ears.

Yang, meanwhile, immediately stepped over to the open hatchway and began pumping her fists back and forth as shots fired from Ember Celica and her robotic arm while she yelled out of frustration. This went over for a brief space of time before she stopped firing shots and simply took deep breaths while she glared out into the open air. Shortly after the shots were done firing, Weiss waited for a few seconds before returning the hatch to its original position while the others gave Yang slightly hesitant looks save for Qrow.

"You good?" Her uncle asked without an ounce of concern in his voice as he stood with his arms crossed from behind the blonde.

"Yeah…I'll be fine." Yang replied back with a slight strain to her voice.

"This isn't just about her, is it?" He asked as he stepped forward to rest a hand on her shoulder. His expression softened as he did so, something that went unnoticed by the others as his back was facing them as well. "…How long has this been bottled up?"

"…Ever since Beacon fell."

A few sets of eyes widened at that admission as Yang's shoulders slumped and she slowly moved over to take a seat once again. Frost, Neo, and Penny all immediately moved to start talking to or comforting Yang, with Emerald joining after a slight pause to make sure the blonde was alright. Qrow returned to his seat in the front after seeing that Yang would be aright given those that showed to care about her well-being. His feet returned to the top of the console, his eyes turning to face Weiss who seemed uncaring about him doing so for once.

"What? Not going to try and tell me to put my feet down again? Or just given up trying?"

The white-haired girl was silent as Qrow waited for a response, his shoulders shrugging with indifference as he turned to face forward again.

* * *

It was a while later that the white-haired girl finally answered the older man's question.

"…You're not as uncaring as I was informed."

Qrow coughed a few times to clear the liquid that had accidentally run down the wrong pipe before turning to give Weiss a questioning look before scoffing and facing forward.

"And who told you that, your sister?"

"Yes, actually. When you came up as we talked about what had happened in Vale, she commented on your lack of care for procedure and your lack of decorum, such as your tattered cape and your…drinking problem."

"Yeah, well, you can't please everyone so why bother trying." The man huffed back as he smirked to himself while continuing to look ahead.

"Except you do actually care. And it shows especially when you talk to someone like Yang or Ruby or even their father. You may be dismissive, but you at least let people say their piece before letting your judgment fall. And if they actually show something promising, you let them know in your own way."

"…Well someone's perceptive. How long did that take you to figure out?"

"…Longer than I would have liked."

The older man laughed heartily from his seat, much to the confusion of those in the back as they all looked over for a moment before shaking it off as Qrow being himself and returning to talking amongst themselves.

"That must have been hard to admit given how prim and proper your family seems to be."

Weiss was silent this time as his words sank in. Her thoughts turned back to Winter and Atlas for a bit as she was reminded in part as to why she had decided to try and break free of her father's control.

"You two are pretty alike, you know that?" The veteran Huntsman's voice interrupted her thoughts as she glanced over, slightly caught off-guard. "Always trying to follow the rules and do things the way they should. But then you realize how ridiculous those rules can be sometimes and you decide to make your own decisions regardless of what the rules around you may dictate."

"How is Winter like that?" The older man deadpanned at her statement before responding.

"Seriously? After what you and her did to get you out of Atlas, you still ask that question?" His hand reached for his flask as he took another deep swig before continuing. "She went against what would have been considered proper protocol to have your father arrested and let you leave Atlas despite what it could have done had her plan not worked. I think, now more than ever, that she's actually starting to understand things better now that she's looking beyond the bubble of Atlas that the two of you have been stuck inside for so long."

"Maybe…" Weiss whispered mostly to herself as she thought once more of her similarities with her sister and of how she had changed since seeing things from a different point of view.

"Hang on, how do you even know about what happened in Atlas?!" Weiss head whirled to face Qrow with a wide-eyed look after realizing what he had said in full.

"…Let's just say that a little birdy told me."

Qrow never said more than that, unfortunately for Weiss despite the pointed stare she gave him for an extended amount of time following his few words. After finally giving up on the hope of getting a clear answer, she turned back to face outside with a huff as a large landmass started to come into view over the horizon. Her eyes widened in shock as details began to come into view about the area ahead of them.

They had arrived at Menagerie…and it looked a lot worse than what the video had shown them.

* * *

 **Thankfully this should be the last bit of exposition for a while, sorry that took a while for those that may have been starting to lose interest. I can promise that from this point things will definitely be picking up once again for our group as they wade into battle once more. I'll see you all again in another couple weeks for the first of the battle on Menagerie. It's gonna be a bit of wild ride.**


	30. Chapter 30

All eyes that weren't focused on scanning the skies ahead of them watched the ground pass by below as they began to reach the Menagerie shoreline. Fires raged out of control across numerous buildings as citizens of the island ran back and forth in a panic, the Grimm scattered amongst them searching for easy prey that were either injured or too slow to escape their ravenous appetites. Those that had witnessed the fall of Beacon set their jaws tight as memories flashed back through their minds. Even Penny, who had been offline during the incident, looked around with a look of shock and sadness as the massacre lay before them.

The hand that Frost didn't have propped against the open frame of the airship clenched tightly at the similar sight, this now being the third time he had seen such devastation occur so close to him. The others knew only of Beacon, but due to the freshness of the memories that had rushed through his mind while he had been unconscious in Patch, there was no way he could forget such a thing when a similar sight lay right in front of him, no matter how hard he tried.

Qrow tapped Weiss on the shoulder and gestured with one hand to a more open area just off the docks, to which the white-haired girl nodded and redirected the airship towards their destination. As they descended into place, the heads of multiple Grimm turned to face them as they became aware of the new visitors to the island. Snarls and growls echoed from amongst them before a large cluster broke off from the masses and charged towards the airship.

They didn't get far however, as anyone capable of used ranged attacks began to unload their weapons onto the charging beasts. The only ones that didn't were Weiss and Qrow due to them landing the ship while Frost conserved his energy to better fuel his attacks once they were on the ground. Within moments, a slight shaking of the ship signified that they had touched down, to which all of those waiting at the doors disembarked while Weiss, Qrow, and Penny waited aboard the metal vehicle. After the group hopped onto the ground, Yang rapped her metal arm against the hull a few times to give the signal before it once again took off for the second part of their plan to scout ahead. They had long since decided that leaving the airship unattended would have been the worst possible decision, and even though her original personality had returned Penny had still insisted on watching over Weiss while she flew Qrow and herself to another part of the island where they could better hide the airship.

This now left Yang, Neo, Emerald, and Frost all huddled together as they stood off against the masses of Grimm milling about the streets. It didn't last long as Yang immediately jumped into the fray and began to unleash devastating kicks and punches to the bodies of the Grimm, the latter of those attacks occasionally bolstered by the shotgun blasts fired from her weapons. With an opportunity to now release the pent up frustration she had felt for weeks without reservation, her eyes blazed red as the dark beings were erased left and right.

Neo and Emerald, meanwhile, were guarding Frost as he stood with his eyes closed and fists clenched at his sides as electricity started to crackle along the surface of his arms. Their weapons were loud with the sounds of gunfire as the two fired countless rounds of Dust into any Grimm naïve enough to charge at them in the attempts to land a hit on one of them. Occasionally Emerald would swing her weapons out to catch something with the bladed ends while Neo used the parasol to deflect any incoming swipes from those with claws before firing a point-blank shot out of the cane into the abdomen of whatever had gotten close.

As the three of them fought around him, however, Frost was also half lost in thought as he charged his Semblance through his body.

* * *

" _You know this will only work for so long…why delay the inevitable?_ " The sinister voice filled his mind as he stood within the chambers of his mind. " _Can't you just FEEL the negativity in the air around us? It's an all-you-can-eat buffet and yet here you are trying to hold onto the last vestiges of your sanity before I manage to take control for once. What happens when you start fighting? When the bloodlust and thrill of battle fill you? What will you do then?_ "

Frost's eyes turned to focus on the darkness, even though there was no actual physical figure to lock his eyes onto. He knew, however, what lay beyond the shadows surrounding him, now more than ever.

"And let you do what you did all those years ago? I saw what happened, and I know now that whatever you are, you're the one responsible for my parent's death. You and whoever made you. I don't know what kind of twisted science was performed to make you, or how you managed to survive such a fatal attack, but it doesn't matter. I won't let anything happen to these people while I have control."

" _And therein lies your problem. You don't even know how long you have left before I'm able to take hold of the reigns. You've felt it since Atlas. I'm that much closer to having your body for myself, and once that happens you can't do anything to stop me. So enjoy your petty strands of hope you clutch to so tightly, because I'm merely waiting until the strands are thin enough for me to slice them apart and take what's rightfully mine._ "

* * *

"We'll see about that." Frost's eyes hardened as he returned to the world around him. His gaze quickly scanned over the crowd to see Yang, Emerald, and Neo all fulfilling their parts of the plan.

Now it was his turn.

"READY!" His yell carried over the din of battle to the ears of those that had arrived with him before they all hopped back and landed just behind him, Yang having to use a few precise blasts from her weapons to propel her into position. Once he knew they were all out of the way, he reached deep inside of himself towards the power that he had been building as they had approached the island. This was their only way to clear a path quickly since Penny had refused to leave Weiss' side, even if it would drain a good portion of Frost's reserves in the event of a more difficult foe arriving at some point.

He could feel the electricity crackling along his arms and popping at his fingertips as he gazed across the Grimm standing around them. Their plan had worked so far. The Grimm lay clustered up in front of the four of them, teeth and claws clicking against jaws and stonework as the beasts stood warily away from them after so many had been slaughtered already. That, however, was nothing compared to what came next.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Frost's voice echoed around them as he brought both arms out in front of him with his hands open wide as he held them at a 90 degree angle from his torso. Seconds later, after the lightning pulsing along his arms began to grow in speed and intensity, the energy was released in a massive wave as bolts of lightning cast out into the large group of monsters. There was no time to react as the power coursed through each of them and chained to their brethren nearby as the gathering began to glow from the sheer force of the attack flooding their bodies. Nothing was left untouched as the energy swapped from body to body before returning back to its previous host and eviscerating the crowd in instants.

As soon as the energy stopped flowing the beasts lay defeated and their bodies drifted away into black smoke one by one. Frost's arms hung at his sides as he took deep rasping breaths and his forehead glistened with sweat. That had been the largest lightning blast he had ever unleashed, and it had clearly taken more out of him than he had originally thought or intended. The others gathered closely around him as they quickly scanned for any remaining Grimm before turning to check on their out of breath companion.

"Dude, are you alright?" Yang asked with wide eyes as she scanned his tired face. "I know you said that was a thing you could do, but did you have to go so overboard? Seriously, even for me that seemed like a bit much."

Frost's eyes turned to give Yang a slight squinting look before he panted out a reply. "Well clearly fighting some Grimm cleared up your temperament a bit, but isn't that a little pot calling the kettle black, even for you?"

The blonde shrugged her shoulders as she gave him a strong pat on the back, his footing stumbling slightly as his squint turned into a glare at the suddenness of the gesture. Meanwhile Neo looked worriedly at his tired face while he was unaware before she felt a tapping sensation on her shoulder from Emerald, whom she turned to face questioningly.

"He's done stuff like this before, remember?" She whispered quietly enough for only Neo to notice. "You told me yourself this was normal for him to do, even if it left him in a state like this."

"I know." Neo responded plainly as her eyes flickered back to Frost for a brief second. "But it doesn't mean I have to like it, even if it WAS part of the plan."

The two turned back to Yang chuckling by herself while Frost straightened up his posture now that he had a few moments to regain his breath and return to whatever passed for normal for their group. His eyes still carried a controlled rage however, something that did not pass Neo's attention as she had learned how to read his gestures and face a long time ago. She passed it off as being caught up in the moment of trying to rescue Menagerie however, and disregarded it for the time being.

The four of them began to roam the streets for any signs of a place of safety where citizens were being gathered and protected. So far they had only come across more signs of destruction and chaos as Grimm continued to pass, with the occasional pack noticing them only to be decimated moments later by the four fighters as they pressed on. It was a while still before they eventually reached any indications of where the safe house would be.

* * *

Ruby's scythe planted into the concrete beneath her with a sickening crunch as the head of Beowolf was pinned beneath the massive blade. Shots fired from the gun barrel as its wielder took aim at the large pack of Beowolves lumbering towards them. Moment later, a clutter of grenades exploded in their midst scattering the bodies in a cloud of pink dust before it mingled with the black dust of the defeated Grimm as their bodies dissipated. Sounds of blades slicing cleanly through objects came from behind her and Nora as Jaune and Ren finished up the Grimm that had been coming at them from the opposite direction. The four of them gathered themselves as they looked back at the departing ship that they had arrived on.

The captain had been okay with transporting them to Menagerie as he had been in the midst of delivering supplies overseas. Once it had become aware that there was a mass of Grimm attacking the capital, they had nearly been turned around had it not been for Ren's careful negotiation that they had only wished to reach land, after which point he could immediately turn around and return to Anima. That and a large sum of Lien to guarantee his cooperation. Diplomacy could only go so far, unfortunately, before things had to be guaranteed with the right price.

"Are we sure this is even a good idea?" Jaune spoke first as the four turned to face inland now that they were forced on their current path. "I know we don't have a choice now, but maybe we should have listened to your sister, Ruby."

"No. Yang is just babying me as usual." Ruby's determined look turned to face the blonde in their group. "Besides, you want to help just as much as I do, I can tell."

Jaune sighed. "Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean I have to like this."

"Besides, there are more of them and they have a trained Huntsman with your Uncle." Ren stated plainly from the side.

"So then why did you let me drag us onto that boat then once we saw the White Fang flying over the sea? Why did you convince the captain of the boat not to turn around once we knew what we were getting into? Huh?"

"Ruby." Nora's voice was calm from beside Ren as she spoke up from her rare silence. "We want to help just as much as you. We can't let Beacon happen again, no matter where it is. But what if they have a point? What if we're in over our heads without any backup or a trained Huntsman or Huntress to help us? We can't call for help or expect a teacher to protect us like then."

"If this is how you're all going to be, then fine! Wait for the next ship to arrive and go back to Mistral." Her scythe shifted back into its gun form as she took off running. "I'm going to help these people even if I have to do it alo-ack!"

"Dammit Ruby, wait!" Jaune called out as he pounced forward and barely caught the edge of her cloak, the girl yelping out with a strangled voice as it pulled her off-balance and into a heap on the ground. "We never said that we weren't going to help. But since there's fewer of us, we need to be more careful! We need to stick together if we want to stand a chance!"

Ruby grumbled from the ground as she untangled herself from her cloak and stood while dusting herself off. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?!"

"Maybe it was because you started rushing ahead, again?" The blonde regarded her with a targeted frown on his face.

Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head with a nervous giggle. "I kind of did, didn't I?"

"Don't worry about it, Ruby!" Nora stated with pep as she wrapped one arm around the smaller girl's shoulders. "We'll just rush into things alongside you!" With that, the two of them charged off into the streets of Menagerie in search of survivors.

"Nora, wait!" Ren reached out but was unable to catch Nora like Jaune had caught Ruby previously. He hung his head with a sigh as Jaune rested an armored hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Ren. They'll be fine. Besides, I doubt we could slow them down even if we tried at this point. Might as well charge in with them to watch their backs."

"I suppose. But perhaps in the future we could consider teaching the two of them some restraint?"

"If you want to try, go ahead. But let me ask you something. Has that ever worked before for Nora?"

"…No."

"That's what I thought. Let's go and catch up with them before they destroy half the island, alright?"

Ren cracked a small smile at the joke before sprinting ahead alongside his blonde companion. "Lead the way."

* * *

It was a long slog of bullets, punches, kicks, and stabs before the four of them came to a large clearing in the streets in front of a mass of armed citizens that seemed to be fighting a losing battle against both the Grimm and the White Fang alike. What was even stranger was that the Grimm only seemed intent on attacking those that weren't dressed as the White Fang, who seemed to be completely ignored by the monsters.

"What the hell?!" Frost exclaimed as the four of them looked over the battle. "What is going on?!"

"I don't know, but we can't stop to think about it!" Yang yelled before leaping into the fray and sundering two Grimm with quick swipes of her weapons before delivering a vicious punch to the back of the head of a White Fang member that hadn't turned to face her appearance right away as they collapsed to the ground beside the two dissipating Grimm, unconscious. "Protect the Faunus!"

The other three leapt into action seconds later as the Grimm and White Fang became aware of their presence and began to split their focus between the guards and the four newcomers. Fortunately, this meant that the pressure wasn't entirely on the Faunus guards and they were able to regain control of their end of the street that they currently presided over.

* * *

Frost's eyes whirled from opponent to opponent as he released bursts of energy into each combatant he faced, which resulted in them either being launched from the force of the attack or knocked unconscious by the force of it and collapsing to the ground in a heap. His fists began to burn as the fight went on and on, the ache almost becoming too much to bear as his vision began to tint red from the fury he felt. His mind began to race as he started to realize what this meant, his eyes starting to fill with panic even as his one eye turned into the sickly black and red that meant the Grimm side of him was growing stronger once more. There was only one thing he could do at this point, even if it was incredibly risky.

"NEO! SHIELD, NOW!" His voice carried over the large gathering to the ears of the girl in question, whose eyes widened in surprise at the suddenness of the order. Recognition flashed across her eyes as she realized what he meant and rushed towards Yang and Emerald before teleporting them both to stand beside the Faunus standing guard at the path, away from the cluster of Grimm and White Fang that Frost was still in the middle of.

"Wait, what's going on? What's he talking about?!" Yang questioned over the confused yelling of the Faunus around them as orders were barked to hold their ground.

"No time!" Neo yelled before engaging the parasol on her weapon and clicking the heels of her boots together as a series of spikes embedded themselves into the ground below her, keeping her feet planted. "Grab onto me! As for anybody else, grab onto something if you don't want to get thrown off your asses!" Her second yell was directed towards the Faunus around them, many of them looking on in confusion before turning to look into the throng of White Fang and Grimm as a large light began to form and grow brighter from within the crowd. Moments later, orders were given to grab onto something firmly planted into the ground as the Grimm and White Fang made one final charge towards them.

The order came just in time as a massive shockwave of force pulsed from the light in the crowd, Grimm and White Fang alike being sent flying from the sheer power behind it before slamming into buildings and debris alike, the continued pulsing from the shockwave forcing bodies to remain pinned in place until it subsided and bodies either fell to the ground unconscious or dissipating into smoke. Where the light used to be emitting, Frost was hunched over on his hands and knees as his body shook from fatigue and the lingering sensations of panic. Neo was the first to move as the spikes in her boots retreated inside, her feet immediately carrying her to his side as he tried to struggle to his feet.

"You complete IDIOT!" Neo yelled as a sharp crack signified her slapping him rather harshly across the face. "That may have worked this time, but did you forget the other times you tried doing that?! What was that supposed to accomplish?!"

"It ended the fight fast, didn't it? And no one got hurt?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then I don't care." His voice was filled with conviction even through the clearly tired tone he used. "The majority of the White Fang and Grimm had to be gathered here, so that means that from this point things should be easier to protect or even clear out altogether. Mission accomplished."

"…You're still a complete idiot."

"If it means everyone is safe, then I'll take that any day."

"Okay, so this moment is sweet and all, but can we move on to the bigger problem. Like what we do next now that we're here?" Emerald's voice came from the top of the crater as she looked down at the two of them. "Or do you two need another few moments?"

"Oh, haha. Very funny Emerald." Frost groaned out as he slowly climbed out of the crater. "You wish you could have a moment like that with somebody. Maybe it would help your ego a bit."

"Couldn't care less, never been interested." The shot response she gave, accompanied by the dismissive wave of her hand showed that she was done with that part of the conversation. As she strolled back towards the main building that had been the target of the White Fang and the Grimm, she stopped for a moment to look back at the two with a softer look on her face. "It's…good to know you're alright, though. Can't go doing those attacks all the time after all."

"Huh." Frost stared wide-eyed after the departing green-haired girl. "Emerald being nice. This has been a weird day. Wonder what's next."

"For our sakes, hopefully nothing."

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" A shrill voice that was rapidly increasing in volume came from a street nearby…however it wasn't the street that they had just been defending.

Heads turned to face the direction of the voice that had yelled, the majority of the crowd carrying looks of confusion. A few pairs of eyes, specifically belonging to those of Yang, Neo, Emerald, and Frost, all widened in shock at the oncoming storm. Still confused however, they all stood rooted to the ground until one of them figured out what direction the approaching object seemed to be headed. A body quickly started sprinting into place as they braced themselves for the impact with their weapon drawn.

Seconds later, and massive collision went off and a large plume of dust was created as a red cloud made impact, obscuring the four of them within and leaving the Faunus that bore witness concerned for what had just arrived. Neo's body immediately went sailing out of the cloud before colliding roughly with a lamppost just of the side of the street, her Aura failing soon after due to the severity of the hit and the remainder it had after their battles on the island.

As the cloud cleared, Ruby could be seen with her scythe positioned inches away from Emerald's chest as the other three stared at her with wide eyes before turning to face Neo as she lay gasping for breath on the side of the road.

"Neo!" Frost moved as quickly as his body would allow to reach the girl as Ruby looked over with wide eyes, now realizing what it was that she had hit upon her arrival.

"Umm…oops?"

* * *

 **I promised to deliver on something more action-y this chapter, so I hope it was satisfactory. I don't feel completely satisfied with some of the writing for this one, but I didn't really have time to adjust anything too much or really change things dramatically due to parts of this chapter being required for events yet to unfold.**

 **So for now, this is where we leave things until the next update on November 23. I will see those of you reading RWBY then. For those reading my other story, I will see you in a week.**


	31. Chapter 31

"Ruby!" Yang yelled out as she approached the younger girl. "I thought I told you to stay away from Menagerie!" The older sister stalked towards the red-haired girl menacingly with her fists clenched tight.

Ruby, however, did not seem to falter as she responded with a powerful glare. "And I told you that I couldn't just stay back if someone was in trouble! Or did you happen to forget that while you get to go off fighting the bad guys?!"

"This isn't about what I'm doing, and you know it! This is about keeping you safe so that nothing bad happens!" The two were practically propped up against each other as they stood face to face. With the exception of Frost - who was currently checking on Neo as she sat propped against the light pole she had collided with, a hand clutching the side that had taken the brunt of Ruby's attack – all eyes were glued to the sisters with baited breath as they waited for events to unfold.

"I don't need protecting!" Ruby exclaimed as she stomped a foot in anger. "I'm perfectly capable of handling myself in a fight, and you know it! Professor Ozpin wouldn't have brought me to Beacon two years early if he didn't believe that!"

"Yeah, well, we won't ever get to exactly get to find out why he did it considering he's gone! So that's beside the point!" Yang's eyes flashed red for a moment as she returned fire on her sister. "How do you think dad would react if it turned out you were killed as well?! He already lost Summer to the Grimm and it nearly ruined him if it hadn't been for Uncle Qrow! How do you think we possibly deal with things if you died, too?!"

"I never asked for-" The redhead paused as some of Yang's words sank in. "Wait, we?" The rage-induced tunnel vision faded for a moment as she took another look at her sister's face, the telltale signs of tears dusting her cheeks as she stood over her. Ruby's eyes widened as Yang's arms suddenly embraced her tightly, a slight shaking sensation making her rock slightly as silent tears fell from the blonde's eyes.

"You dunce. Of course I meant "we"." A smile filled her face as she held her sister close once more. "You really think that dad would have been the only one affected by anything happening to you? I was so cold to you right before you left after everything that had happened because I was being selfish. How was I supposed to feel with the possibility that the last thing you really remembered of me was broody and sad when I'm supposed to be your cheerful older sister that always watches out for you?"

"Yang…" Ruby replied quietly, unable to form the words as countless thoughts rushed through her mind at once. In the end only a few came to her, but what they happened to be meant all the world.

"I love you, too."

* * *

Frost silently turned back to Neo as he decided to give the sister's a moment of peace. The stray tear falling down her cheek caught his eye as he reached out to brush it away with a gentle touch. The action did not go unnoticed as she turned to face him with a startled look, to which he responded with a small smile of his own before carefully helping her to her feet. Neo normally would have taken the chance to check for other injuries, however the close proximity of herself and Frost was too tempting an option as she leaned into him somewhat, neither of them realizing the arm that unconsciously reached around her shoulders to keep her balanced. The two both looked on the scene with gentle smiles of their own, basking in the reunion that had many anxious for various reasons.

The moment was not to last, unfortunately.

"Alright, where's the baddies?!" The bubbly voice of Nora echoed across the open area as the other redhead landed in view, her weapon drawn and primed in its launcher form as she swiveled left and right looking for targets. A disappointed look filled her face as she noticed the lack of fighting. "Aww, we missed it! No fair!"

"Nora! Slow down!" The voice of Lie Ren echoed from a nearby alleyway, soon followed by himself and Jaune coming into view as well. The two males paused to catch their breath for a moment, not near as fast or hardy as Nora or Ruby by a longshot after having travelled so quickly from the docks.

"Looks like we finally caught up with them, huh?" Jaune gasped out as he straightened his posture after taking a few moments to breathe the air without losing it immediately. "Soooo…what now?"

"I…don't know, actually." Yang replied as she and Ruby broke their embrace to address the rest of the crowd. "Qrow just told us to head to the place that looked like the most heavily guarded part of town and wait for him. I'm not sure what we're supposed to do until he gets here."

"Maybe we should talk about why, she-" Ruby started as she gestured towards Emerald, her original focus now returned. "Is here with the rest of you?!"

Now noticing Emerald as well, Jaune, Ren, and Nora all took fighting stances with their weapons drawn as Emerald slowly started backing away with a fearful look in her eyes. Much to their noticeable surprise however, Frost and Yang both stepped in front of the four of them as though to protect the green-haired girl. Both gave the newcomer group expectant looks, waiting to see what would happen next. This scene was enough to give pause to the battle-ready team as they gave confused looks to those standing in front of them.

"Yang? What are you doing? She helped Cinder collapse Beacon! She helped the White Fang hurt so many people! Why are you defending her?!"

"Because she never meant to do any of it." Frost's calm voice washed over all of them as he spoke for the first time since they arrived. This in turn resulted in all four of them now focusing on him, his fighting instinct kicking in for a breath moment as he felt the adrenaline course through him briefly at the sight of their stances. He shook his head to clear the lingering bloodlust that the Grimm had been starting to infect him with once again before continuing. "She was a much a pawn of Cinder as Neo or I were, that's why you should give her a chance."

"I can understand giving you two a break after everything I heard about what was happening, but her?" Jaune's skeptical voice responded as he continued standing with his weapons drawn, ready for combat the moment it should occur. "She was completely aware of what Cinder was planning from the start. She was in on the entire thing and even helped to stage it all. How are we supposed to trust anyone after that?! After what they did to the innocent people of Vale?! To Penny?! TO PYRRHA?! HOW?!"

"Jaune, you need to calm down." Yang tried to butt in, but the male blonde was having none of that as he charged in with a bellow, though he was not followed by any of the rest of his group present.

"Like hell I will!" His voice was laced with pure rage as he charged straight towards the two blocking his path, neither of them moving as they took up stances to try and stop the boy from proceeding.

Their preparations were for naught as a large chunk of ice suddenly emitted from the ground just beneath him and spread out as it rose to grasp him by the legs to the point that everything from the waist down was trapped within a block of ice. The blonde continued to struggle however, his intent clear as he glared at Emerald through the gap between Yang and Frost.

"How could you?! She never deserved any of it! She didn't ask for any of this! So why did you do it? Huh?!" His voice was slowly overcome with sobs as his emotions swelled and overwhelmed him. His arms eventually went limp as he remained trapped in the ice. "She was a good person, and you didn't do a thing to stop it. You never stopped to save anyone."

"That's where you're wrong, Jaune." Frost replied as he walked towards the other boy and stood facing him. "She did save someone. She saved me and Neo from Mercury that night. She risked herself to stop him from killing either of us under Cinder's orders. She could have saved more people, yes," Emerald winced visibly at that statement as the white-haired boy continued. "but she only stopped to save us. People that had belittled or insulted her since we first met because we saw her as just another pawn of Cinder and Torchwick. Though, that was mostly me if we're being honest. And to this day, I've never stopped feeing thankful for that. There's always that lingering doubt that maybe it's a ruse, maybe she's just setting us up to be betrayed to Cinder or someone else down the line. But then I remember that night, and how close we were to not making it out of that chaos like so many other people." His head turned to face said girl as she looked at him with a shocked look and wide eyes. "That's why I forgave her…a long time ago. Because as much as the two of us may have shown her there's a chance to get away…she gave us that chance just as much. She just refuses to admit that she deserves that second chance."

Everyone was silent as they looked at the boy standing in front of Jaune. Varying expressions of shock and disbelief flashed across different faces save for Neo as she had made her way over to Emerald where she stood giving the girl a gentle hug as the green-haired girl wept openly. Ruby looked at her own weapon with shame as it sat next to her, having been dropped as she had clutched tightly to Yang during their reunion. Nora and Ren had long since holstered their weapons as Frost had gone on in length about his opinion of Emerald. Yang's face was filled with surprise at hearing so many words spoken by Frost about the ex-criminal and in such high regard that even she was second guessing everything she had thought upon first encountering the girl in Patch. Jaune's face was filled with warring emotions. It was clear that he still wanted to hate Emerald for her part in everything, but hearing the words spoken to him made him doubt his original assumptions as the ice around him suddenly dissipated as the clacking of heels sounded from nearby.

"It seems like everything's been resolved then. That's probably for the best at this point." Weiss stated calmly as she approached the rest of the group.

"Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed as she started dashing over to her teammate, only to stop short with a gasp as another figure came into view. Tears filled her eyes as her lips spread into a sad smile at the sight before her. "…Penny?"

The android calmly walked forward, carefully following Weiss as she responded in a calm manor, very much unlike her. "Hello, Ruby."

"Penny!" Ruby exclaimed even louder as she suddenly flew past Weiss in a flurry of rose petals, much to the evident shock of the girl who had moments earlier expected a tackle hug form her energetic partner. The scythe-wielder collided with the robot girl in a solid tackle that sent them both crashing into the ground, much to the bemusement of those paying witness to the scene.

"Is…this going to be the trend for today or something at this point?" Frost asked with an unsure tone as he looked at the scene before him, Ruby gesturing for Weiss to join them as she holds Penny tightly, to which the girl profusely refuses and yet still approaches to greet her teammate once more. Eventually Yang joins them as the majority of their team has now been reunited in one place.

"I…don't know." Neo remarked from beside him. "But would it be such a bad thing if it was?"

"Not really, it just seems like….I don't know…a lot for one day for anyone to process. I don't like the feeling it gives me that it's too perfect." Emerald snorted from his other side at his comment as Neo glared at him with a pout.

"Okay, I swear, if that ends up ruining things you are going to get it later. Stop being so paranoid and just enjoy some peace for on-"

The sound of shattering glass echoed across the courtyard as a body was sent sailing from the upper floor of the building they had been defending. The body bounced a few times across the gravel and debris before settling into a low stance close to the ground as another form stood within the frame of the now shattered glass as it looked down towards the group. Eyes then widened once more as they realized who had just fallen into their midst, quite literally.

"Blake!" Multiple voices rag out in surprise as the raven-haired girl stood straight with her weapons drawn in each hand. Her focus was elsewhere however, as she regarded the figure in the window.

"When are you going to understand, Adam?! The faunus and humans are meant to be equal! This war solves nothing if we just end up reversing the roles!" All eyes turn to face the figure framed above them, one pair in particular filled with anger but also a heavy dose of fear and caution.

"There is no such thing as being equal with the likes of humans, Blake!" The man snapped back as he continued to stand in the one position. "I thought you understood that when you stayed with the White Fang when leadership changed, but I guess I was wrong! You're weak, just like the other Faunus on this island that choose not to fight for their own rights!"

"Just because I refuse to kill an innocent person, that doesn't make me weak!" She replied vehemently as she glared at her former mentor. "It just makes you a tyrant and a monster for believing that people can be treated that way!"

"Is that how you see me, Blake? As a monster? Something to be feared? All I've ever wanted was a better life for the Faunus! Is that so bad?"

"It is when you try to overthrow everything in the process! What happened to the man I used to admire that fought passionately for Faunus rights without resorting to violence?!"

"He grew wise to the things around him and at how flawed things have become! Just like all the other humans and Faunus in this world! You're all weak and unfitting to see the coming of a new world order!"

"A new world…what are you going on about?! I thought this whole thing was about the Faunus being the superior race!"

"Oh, Blake. It seems you've fallen out of touch after being away from the Fang for so long." The red-haired man leapt down from his perch as he slowly started marching towards the large group of kids. "I still believe that Faunus are the superior race when compared to humans. But I found out about something so much stronger since Beacon fell." His hand reached up to remove the mask on his head, his bare face now visible for all to witness.

What they saw shook them to their core, for where a normal looking Faunus should reside, they saw pale skin and black veins trailing in from the outer edges of his head. The piercing red and black eyes that stared wide at them froze them to the ground as all took in the face of the man that had helped lead the assault on Beacon.

"Adam…what have you done?" Blake barely managed to ask as a sick feeling washed over her at the sight of what her old ally had become.

"The worst thing he could have done." Frost stated with clenched fists as he glared back at one of the most vile creations in existence. "He's become part-Grimm. I don't know how, but it means that there could very well be more of them within the White Fang itself at this point."

"Someone's been doing their research apparently." The pale visage of Adam Taurus gazed back at him; his interest peaked as he gave Frost an almost appraising look. "But of course it would be you of all people that would know, given the circumstances. You know, he still wonders how you've been able to hold out for so long after how long it's been a part of you. It must be so difficult, standing right on the edge and yet not feel the unstoppable power that comes with it. I could show you, if you want."

"No thanks." Frost retorted as he tightened his hands into fists at his sides. "Now that I've seen the end result, I think I'll keep that bit of my humanity still intact, thank you very much."

Blake looked to Frost with a half-confused, half-concerned expression. "What is he talking about? As far as I knew, he just wanted Faunus superiority. This isn't even like what I saw him turning into when I left the White Fang."

"He's talking about the Grimm that's inside me since I was forced to work for Torchwick." A few sets of gasps and confused utterances echoed at that moment. "But unlike him, I'm choosing to not give up what's left of the real me to some mindless beast."

"Oh, I wasn't giving you a choice. I was just talking to the part of you inside that so desperately wants to come out. The rage and anger that, to this day, still calls out for vengeance at what was done to it." His gaze turned to face Neo at Frost's side. "And I think I know exactly how to do it."

Eyes wide with fear, multiple bodies slowly started moving to intercept the man as he pounced towards Neo. Were her Aura not spent she would have been able to teleport away in the blink of an eye to safety, but that was not the case here as the red-haired demon approached her. His hand casually reached for his blade even as he took long strides towards her. Whatever kind of Grimm had been infused with him, he was far faster than any of them nearby could act. Even Ruby, with her speed-based Semblance, could not close the gap in time to attempt anything without putting herself at severe risk, not that the tightly clenched hand on her forearm from Yang would have allowed anything in the first place as the fear and instinct had set in and froze her to the spot.

Before anyone had time to properly process what had happened, Adam had arrive in front of Neo and cleanly speared her through the abdomen with his blade, a gurgling sound leaving her throat as she fell to the ground from the blade being pulled free. Blood began to stain her outfit as she held both hands tightly against her center in the hopes of stemming the tide of blood. But it was to no avail as her skin began to pale from the rapid release of her life force. Her mouth opened as she tried to form words even as Frost knelt next to her and tried to stem the flow himself with patches he tore from the longer part of Neo's coat as tears fell from his eyes.

His mouth moved as though in slow-motion as her vision began to fade, darkness beginning to creep in from all around as other figures moved to stand in front of the two of them and block Adam from them, even though the damage had already been done. Even as everything began to go completely black, she had just enough energy to reach out one hand and gently caress Frost's cheek with a weak smile before her entire body went limp. Then, all that remained faded to black.

The last thing she remembered was a vicious howl of rage, tinged with the bitter pain of loss.

* * *

 **And with that we reach one of the chapters that has been in my mind practically since the makings of this story. There have been some minor tweaks here and there since then, but overall this was one of the major turning points that I've had pre-determined since day one. I hope that so far people have felt a connection to some of the story/characters and I hope you continue to enjoy this project of mine that I've spent so much time on to this day.**

 **As an aside, I also just recently ordered a new computer to replace my old laptop, so if at some point in the next month or two I forget to update a chapter on time, blame the new setup that's letting me playing games better. In all seriousness though, I'm not actually going to let something like that keep me from doing regularly scheduled updates for something I have never stopped enjoying doing. I was just trying to be funny.**

 **Until the next update (whether that be next week's MHA or the RWBY update in two weeks) I will leave you all to your devices. And Happy Thanksgiving to those of you reading from the US! I already pseudo-celebrated my Canadian Thanksgiving a month ago, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't all enjoy yours with the people you care about. The irony of saying that while I toy with my own characters is not lost, trust me.**


	32. Chapter 32

Frost's perception of time seemed to slow as he cradled Neo's body in his arms as she feebly reached towards his face. Tears welled up in his eyes as she put on a weak smile, her hand gently caressing his cheek and wiping away a stray tear before falling limp at her side, her last breath leaving with a small sigh. At that moment, he felt like the loneliest person in the world, regardless of the number of people standing defensively between them and Adam Taurus.

Adam.

That name burned a fire in his chest that he had never felt as strong as he did now. When he had heard that Adam was Blake's old mentor in the White Fang, he had been more frustrated than angry that someone could be so blind as to openly encourage war and ruin the lives of countless innocents in the process just for his own twisted ego. As much as the White Fang wanted to gain Faunus equality with that of the humans, their tactics were far from something that would promote anything except fear. And now they had even forsaken that in the pursuit of more power, by turning themselves into literal monsters just to be able to stand above the rest. It made him sick. It made him frustrated.

But most importantly, it made him ANGRY.

* * *

"Adam!" Blake called out as their group stood like a wall in front of him. "Stop this! This isn't you! I don't care how many times I have to say it, but this was never what you wanted for the Faunus!"

"Poor, naïve Blake," Adam taunted as he casually propped Wilt atop his shoulder, his other hand casually sitting atop Blush at his side. "This is for the best. I realize now that pitting the humans and Faunus against one another would have ended in so much pointless loss of life. So we needed to tip the balance in our favour. Do you really think I was the only one that chose to receive this power? You could have had this as well had you just stayed with us rather than run off to Beacon and try to play Hero. You should know by now that there is no such thing as Heroes. Only those that survive and those that perish due to their weakness. That's just the way the world is."

"…Is that so..."

All heads turned at the sound of the voice that had spoken; their focus on Adam momentarily broken as the cold and lifeless tone seemed to echo across the courtyard. Frost slowly got to his feet as he finished placing Neo's body on the ground with her hands crossed over her chest in an almost peaceful image were it not for the puncture wound I her abdomen. His head turned up to face them, one of his eyes now pitch black with a red iris just like that of Adam's. And yet, he seemed calm. Too calm.

"Keep an eye on her, alright? This won't take me long."

"Don't do something you'll regret, Frost." Emerald swallowed roughly as she recognized the expression on his face from their travels through Atlas. This time was different, however. And it didn't bode well. "I know that this must hurt, but she wouldn't want you to go down this road, she-"

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW HER LIKE I DID!" His voice roared over all of them as they stumbled away from him due to the ferocity in his voice. Meanwhile, Adam stood calmly as he watched with rapt attention, a sinister grin beginning to form on his face. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE SOMETHING SO CLOSE TO YOU, TIME AND AGAIN, AND STILL HAVE TO FIND THE STRENGTH TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD! NONE OF YOU DO!"

"You're wrong." Yang stated calmly as she regained her composure and crossed her arms with an angry look of her own. "Ruby and I lost our mother, Summer, when she was out being a Huntress and we never saw her again. Ren and Nora have been orphans since they were kids. We all lost Pyrrha and Penny when Cinder and Adam attacked Beacon. So don't you DARE go on about things being unfair for only you. You don't have the right."

"…Don't I?" Frost asked, his emotionless mask unfaltering as he faced Yang head-on. "Let me ask you something. Did any of you watch from a front row seat as your mother bled out in front of you? Were you the one to land the killing blow that caused the mother of your best friend and your own father to die?" The cold silence that followed, accompanied by the shocked and horrified looks of those surrounding him was all the answer he needed. "I didn't think so. Because there's one piece of information that I discovered back in Patch that I didn't tell anyone. The Grimm that's inside of me…was the one that attacked and helped kill Neo's mother and my own parents. And I know for a fact that I'm the only one here besides motherfucking Taurus that can claim there's a Grimm inside of them. So STAND. ASIDE."

"We can't do that, Frost." Ruby stated as she took a stance next to her sister, the two of them slowly joined by the rest of their group. "You can't fight him alone, he'll kill you. And this isn't what it means to be a Huntsman anyways. You can't let revenge control you. You have to protect those that can't protect themselves."

"Oh, this isn't revenge, Ruby. This is justice." Frost commented as his expression darkened. "And once I've beaten him within an inch of his life, which will be protecting people might I add, I'll get him to tell me where the man who made the Grimm inside of us is, and then I'm going to end this. Then you can do whatever you want with Adam. Throw him away for all I care. But not until I'm done with him."

"And what makes you think you can even get through all nine of us without us stopping you?" Weiss remarked coldly as a glyph became to form underneath Frost's feet, ready for the moment he made any sort of motion.

"Because." Frost replied without a care in the world, his arms loose at his side without any sign of a threatening gesture. "You're all too slow."

Without warning, his arms lit up with a blinding flash, forcing all of them to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded in the process. In the following moments, what transpired could be considered chaos as Frost unleashed the pent up rage he had felt building for months. For as he stood there, his entire body alight with his Semblance, electricity crackled across his form as though he were a walking Tesla Coil. Before any of them could react, both his arms whipped up as streams of raw energy sailed from his fingertips and into each of their bodies, causing them to convulse as their bodies were frozen to the spot due to the energy coursing through them. All of them except for Nora, who seemed to only be getting stronger as the others collapsed around her, their limbs twitching as the paralysis kicked in and prevented them from moving.

"That's nearly all of you at least." Frost stated with a cold tone as he cracked his neck violently. "I never realized how easy it was to simply mask my Semblance buildup before now. Maybe it's the Grimm or something. Whatever, it doesn't really matter right now."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Nora snapped as she wielded her hammer with an angry look on her face. "My Semblance just makes me stronger when I get electrified, how did you plan on stopping that?"

"Oh, easy." Frost slowly started walking towards Nora, his hands in his jacket pockets as the electricity faded from his body, though the light of his Semblance remained. "When it's just 1 on 1 the odds are ridiculously in my favour unless I were up against someone like Ruby, Weiss, or Yang. You want to know why?"

"Why?" Nora asked cautiously as Frost suddenly pounced forward and gripped Magnhild with one of his hands. Nora tried to pry her weapon away, but found that it wouldn't move as the white-haired boy in front of her looked around their grip without an ounce of remorse on his face.

"Because only they can outrun me or overpower me. The rest of you are just children compared to how powerful I am with this Grimm inside of me. Yang could just take my punches and retaliate, Weiss could stall me with her Glyphs, and Ruby could outrun me until I tire out. Your electrical Semblance is useful in most scenarios, but this isn't a fight you'll win. Not in this life. So stand aside, or I'll be forced to make you."

"No. Not after what you just did to the people you call your friends."

Frost sighed as he let go of Magnhild, much to Nora's surprise as she stumbled back from the sudden lack of force fighting against her. That moment was all he needed as he leapt forward once more, his hand outstretched as he grabbed Nora by the arm and spun around rapidly, launching her into one of the buildings surrounding the courtyard with a crash. For those that fell in a way to be able to see the battle, their eyes remained transfixed as she slowly climbed out of the rubble with a cough, dirt and scratches covering her after the sudden collision with the building as she had broken through into an empty home.

"Is that it? I could do worse on a good day." Nora smirked as she took a stance while Magnhild changed into its launcher form. As she was about to shoot, he froze as she realized the position Frost was in relative to the rest of their group. If she were to shoot at him, there was the risk that she could harm her own friends and allies in the process.

"Conscience proving too much for you, Nora?" Frost asked almost mockingly as he stepped over or around the group without actually stepping on anyone. "I used to worry about stuff like that as well, but…well you can see where that got me. Dead parents, dead friend, nothing left to lose I guess. So just stand down, and keep an eye on the people you care about so much while I beat Adam into a bloody pulp."

Nora stood her ground as she gave him a furious look, filled with equal parts anger and confusion. "Why would you do this?! We would have helped you! You know that! We would have fought with you to stop Adam! So why would you turn on us like this?!"

"Because you would all stop once he was too injured to fight back, or at least to where you think he can't fight back. But you don't know just how tenacious the Grimm inside of us can be. It won't stop fighting even when limbs are broken and your body is a mangled mess. I've seen it firsthand, and in a way I've experienced it by reliving the memories of the Grimm. The only way to stop him is to push him right up to death's door and leave him there. And none of you would understand that until more of you are bleeding out on the ground like Neo. That's why."

"But…this isn't you!"

"In a way, you're right. The part of me that still remains is the one thing that kept me from delivering a lethal blast of electricity through the others. It's only because I held back that they're all just unable to move right now due to their muscles seizing up. But that part of me is small compared to how much control the Grimm has right now. I can still feel the burning rage and thirst for blood clawing away at my mind, and if I keep fighting it for much longer I could end up killing you by accident before moving on to Adam. So please, Nora. Stand. Down."

"Fine, but only because someone needs to keep an eye on the rest of them in case more Grimm or White Fang show up. You made your choice. I hope you're happy with it."

"...I doubt I ever will be." With that, he walked past the ginger girl as she moved to watch over their friends, one passing glance going to Frost's retreating form with a sad look.

* * *

"I'm surprised." Adam remarked as Frost slowly marched towards him, his face once more an emotionless mask as he approached the leader of the White Fang. "After what I just did, I thought that you would have resorted to much worse than simply paralyzing them and letting the one walk away. I was almost worried that I would miss the chance to kill Blake myself. Call me impressed."

"How about I call you worm food instead?" Frost snarled back as he stopped a few feet away from the man. "Because that's what you're about to be in a moment."

"Are you really so sure about that? You still cling to some small vestiges of your humanity, while I've fully embraced the power I've been given. What hope do you have when you couldn't even save your friend?"

"Because against you…I'm not holding back. This ends, tonight."

"Then show me just how powerful you are and we'll see who gets to continue living."

The two then leapt at each with such force that they both left small cracks in the ground where their feet had been moments prior.

The two were practically a blur as they swung wildly at each other, both allowing the beast within to take control as their attacks were empowered with the tenacity and killing intent of the Grimm. The sounds of metal on metal echoed across the area as Frost deflected swings of Adam's blade with his gauntlet while Adam parried attacks from Frost's gauntlets. Neither had resorted to ranged attacks yet, mainly on Frost's part due to what he had been warned about Adam's ability to absorb attacks with his blade and return them at an increased power. To be able to overcome that would require a single opening that he could unleash the full power of his Semblance against the monster he currently squared off against.

Suddenly, Adam leapt away as he lifted Blush from his hip before firing a few rounds at Frost. The boy responded by quickly lifting his bracers to deflect a majority of the bullets even as he felt the sting of a few rounds deflecting off of his Aura. Sensing the change in the tide of battle, he leapt towards the bull Faunus with a quick burst of his Semblance directed towards his legs, his rapid approach to the man met with a blade swung to deflect the oncoming swipe at his head before he felt a full round of the shotgun explode into his abdomen, sending him almost exactly in the direction he had just come from as he crashed into the concrete below, dust and rubble being kicked up from his landing. He quickly got to his feet as Adam hopped down from the balcony once more with a cocky grin on his face.

"It's just like I said, you can't win if you don't give in completely. I'm too powerful for you to hope to win on your own. The girl with the hammer was right, you know. You probably could have beaten me if all ten of you had attacked me together. Not without consequence of course. So I suppose you were both right. It doesn't matter now. Once I'm finished with you, I'll finish the job with the rest of them since you've made such easy targets out of them."

Frost's eyes widened as he realized that Adam had orchestrated this entire scenario. He had wanted Frost to lash out after attacking Neo, and had somehow known he would hold back. How he knew, he had no idea. But if it meant that the rest of them were his next target, then he needed to end things. Now.

Frost felt the power of his Semblance build once again as he felt the electricity crackle across his fingertips. Meanwhile, Adam smirked even wider as he returned Wilt to its place within Blush as he took a ready stance. The two stared each other down as the tension in the air seemed to build between them.

"So this is your response? A final attack to try and stop me quickly? You do realize that my own Semblance will easily overpower yours and simply make it easier for me to kill you, right?" Adam's expression seemed almost disappointed as he shook his head with a clicking sound coming from his mouth. "And here I thought this would be a satisfying fight."

"I'm not here to satisfy your lust for blood, Taurus. I'm here to make sure you never do what you did to anyone else ever again. So shut up, and die like the monster you are."

"Show me your true power then."

"With pleasure."

Frost felt the energy surge across his arms and fingertips as he pointed both hands towards the man in front of him. As the power sailed across the air, the red blade was slowly drawn from its sheath as it began to absorb the power flying at it, the red on the blade and in Adam's hair and eyes glowing as it did so. But as it did so, his eyes widened in shock. Unlike other times he absorbed attacks, they only seemed to be from small salvos or a short blast. This attack seemed to keep going, and if he were to sheath Wilt to use his own attack he would run the risk of leaving himself vulnerable.

"Not so easy to redirect an attack when it just keeps coming, huh Adam?" Frost asked with a sinister grin of his own. "You're probably so used to short and powerful attacks that something that keeps going is the one thing you can't fight against. Too bad for you, I'm putting everything I have into this attack rather than drawing this out any further. If you can survive it, then you win. But that all depends on if you're able to last that long."

"Let's test just how much power your weapon can hold, shall we?"

* * *

 **Well that one was...difficult to write...to say the least. That one took me to a dark place I don't enjoy going to bring out that anger in Frost this chapter. Honestly, there were times when I was younger that I felt like the entire world was against me, and I wanted to yell just like Frost did here when things started going south. Either way, as promised here is my most recent update. As usual, I will see you all in a couple weeks for the next update.**


	33. Chapter 33

The two combatants stood at a stalemate as their powers clashed in the middle of the courtyard. Those that were able to see the fight watched with wide eyes as energy poured from Frost's body into Adam's sword as the two both glowed from the use of their Semblances. It was almost symbolic as the white glow of Frost's abilities squared off with the red glow of Adam's own power as both of their limits were tested.

But one of their powers would eventually run out of ground, and they needed to be ready for whoever the victor was.

Nora carefully kept an eye on the fight as she finished checking on the others, glad to find that none of them were in any sort of danger aside from being unable to move at present. She was lucky that her own abilities let her resist the electrical pulse that had been wielded against them, since a few stray Grimm had stumbled across the area as they roamed the city. She had been able to dispatch them easily with the current boost she was running off of, but it too wouldn't last forever. Then she would be at the mercy of the Grimm should a large pack attack in force.

The flapping of wings filled the air as Nora glanced towards a lone bird as it flew overhead. Her head tiled out of curiosity as it flew down into one of the alleyways adjoining the street they were on, before a brief flash of light came from within. Moments later, Qrow walked out of the alleyway with a somewhat tired look on his face. Concern for her friend's safety compelled her to wield her hammer in a defensive stance as she stared down the new arrival to the battlefield, whom she had never met before.

"Calm down there, missy. I'm one of the good guys." He gestured with a hand towards the bodies of Ruby and Yang, who lay close together due to their positions when Frost had attacked them all. "Those two are family of mine, you really think I'd attack them or the people they call friends?"

"After everything that's happened today, I can't take any chances." The steel in her voice was met with an approving nod from the older man.

"Good. Never let your guard down no matter the situation. Looks like you taught them well, huh Oz?"

"I wish I could say I was the one fully responsible for their sense, but a part of that will always be their own." A familiar voice came from off to the side as Nora turned, wide-eyed, to face the headmaster of the school that had collapsed several months ago.

"…Professor Ozpin?" Nora stood, shell-shocked, as her hands went slack and her hammer fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Yes, Miss Valkyrie, it is I." The white-haired man stated simply as he stood before her with his cane held at his side as he stood calmly before her. His eyes turned to glance over the group of paralyzed students and Neo's body with a look of guilt and shame. "And it appears I arrived too late, as well. Where is young Frost?"

"He…he's facing off against Adam. But, Professor…" Nora's voice was barely held together as the fear in her voice crept through. "But he's not himself. Something about a Grimm inside of him and barely keeping it under control. If we don't stop him now there's no telling what he'll do!"

"Then it is as I feared." The headmaster shook his head sadly as Qrow silently picked up each of the paralyzed students and sat them in a circle with each of them propped against the other's backs. He took extra care as he lifted Neo's lifeless body as he propped her up in a sitting position against the light pole that she had ironically been knocked into earlier. "Qrow, you know what this means."

"…Yeah."

Nora whirled back and forth between the two of them with fearful eyes. "You can't kill him! There's still a part of him in there that we can save! He even said so himself! You can't-"

"Kid." Qrow's voice silenced her due to the coldness in his tone. "He just attacked a bunch of you with the intent to harm, and is currently fighting in what is obviously a life or death battle against the leader of a terrorist group. And I don't see any signs that he'll back down anytime soon. Even if a part of him still remains, it's buried under so much hate and malice that there's no guarantee he'll ever come back or be the same again. We can't take the chance that he turns entirely."

"Professor, you can't honestly intend to go along with this!"

Ozpin refused to look Nora in the eye as he strode past her in a calm fashion. "I'm sorry, but unless he is capable of willingly submitting should he survive the fight against Adam Taurus, we will be left with no alternative. However…" Ozpin stood in front of the group of paralyzed students as he turned back to face Nora from the corner of his eyes. "Their fight is not yet over, and we need to make sure that you and your friends are in a fit state to leave when the need arises."

"What do you mean?" Nora asked as curiosity filled her voice.

Ozpin put a finger to his lips as a sign for Nora to remain silent. "Watch."

As Nora grew silent and stood there, Ozpin's body started to become surrounded with what looked like clocks and dials as a barrier seemed to form around him and the others. His eyes closed in focus as an invisible wind seemed to fill the barrier, causing hair and clothing to flap about as a green light began to build inside of the dome. With a bright flash, the light diminished and the barrier evaporated as Ozpin opened his eyes as he stared over the group of now mobile students in front of him as they got to their feet, all looking at him with shocked eyes.

"Professor…is it really you?" Ruby's voice was the first to be heard as the silence in the air was cut.

"Yes, Miss Rose. It is." Ozpin raised a hand as other's mouths began to move, all of them taking the cue to remain silent as Ozpin turned to walk over to Neo's lifeless form. "But I am not quite done yet. I will need all of you to remain silent for a while longer, and then you may ask your questions when we are not still in danger."

The older man strode over to Neo's body as he knelt and placed two fingers against her neck, likely to check for a pulse. With a sad sigh, he stood up and planted his cane firmly in the ground in front of him as the dome and symbols began to appear once more. The time however, the dials and clocks seemed to spin in reverse as the wind and light formed once again but with a much stronger intensity. This time, the dome lasted for a longer period as all of those watching stood with bated breath, their eyes occasionally flicking over to the locked battle in the courtyard.

* * *

Neo felt light as a feather as her body seemed to float in an empty space. Where was she? How had she gotten here? And why did she feel so empty inside, as though a part of her had been forever ripped away? These questions continued to plague her thoughts as she continued to drift through the void with no clear destination in mind.

Her eyes and body turned as a light began to grow from one direction, though the pull towards the darkness continued as she drifted in the same direction. However, a small part of her mind told her that she should be heading towards the light rather than away from it even as she fell further into the darkness. The light had other ideas however, as it seemed to grow even bigger as Neo felt her body begin to drift in the opposite direction as before, now heading towards the light. As she grew closer to the blinding emission, a voice began to fill her ears as her hand strained out as though to grab onto something.

"Hurry…cannot…you…trapped…" The voice seemed fragmented even as it grew louder. Neo shook her head as memories began to rush back, filling the voids in her head that had left her curious as to her whereabouts. Memories of growing up in a small village before suddenly everything was surrounded in flames as an older woman with flowing brown hair ushered her and a young boy into a wagon with other figures before running off in the distance. Of helping younger children in a crowded building learn what they needed to know to be able to succeed in the future. Of unlocking Semblance as she stood defiant against a group of bullies that were abusing the younger children before they lay on the ground groaning in pain moments later as an older version of the boy stood beside her with one of his hands glowing white against the bruises and scratches that littered his frowning face. The memories increased in speed and strength as her chest began to hurt more and more until she wanted to cry out in agony.

"That's it…let them back in…don't forget about what brought you here…" The voice began to speak again, though this time stronger and with more clarity as a shape began to form within the light of a man with a cane as his had was outstretched towards her. "Almost…there…"

A firm grip formed around one of Neo's wrists as she finally was able to make out the figure reaching out for her even as the pain became unbearable and she felt like blacking out. Her eyes widened in shock as the face of Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon, stood before her even as she felt her body suddenly shift, this time straight up as wind rushed past her face and made her vision grow blurry as the whole world went white.

Neo coughed roughly as a glob of blood left her throat and splattered across the street in front of her. She looked up with tired eyes to see a disheveled looking Ozpin kneeling in front of her with a pleased look on his face. Her head slowly turned despite the pain that came with moving in such a way to see the people she had been fighting alongside in a time that felt like eons ago as they fought off any Grimm that arrived on the scene. Due to how many of them there were, they seemed to be doing it almost without a care as they all stood with backs facing the two of them.

Ozpin stood slowly with the support of his cane as he called out to the others. "It's done. You can all take a breather for the time being while Qrow and I deal with any Grimm."

A sudden rush of rapid gasps and strong vocal outbursts occurred before Neo was suddenly enveloped by a pair of arms. The sound of someone crying filled her ears as Neo looked over to see who had grasped onto her so quickly, her eyes widening at the side of Emerald's tear-stained face so close to hers. Instead of saying anything however, she simply reached out her own aching arms to wrap them lightly around the green-haired girl even as her grip on Neo tightened.

"I spent…so long…without anyone to consider a friend…or keep an eye on me when I needed it…" Her voice came out in chunks, constantly interrupted by hiccups and sniffles as she continued. "It didn't…feel real when you died…so I thought I was imagining it…like if I had used my Semblance on someone but in reverse…and then Frost attacked us…and everything just….fell apart." Her voice calmed down somewhat as she calmed her breathing even as she continued to hold onto Neo for fear that she would disappear the moment she let go. "I'm so glad you're alive."

"Thank you…Emerald." Neo's voice was raspy even as she cleared her throat once more.

"…Well, I don't think I need any more proof." Yang's voice cut through the silence a moment later. "What about you guys?"

"I suppose after that scene it would hard to believe she could go back to being a villain. I'm not holding my breath over her pickpocketing, however." Weiss replied in kind with her usual half-compliment.

Emerald loosened her grip on Neo slightly as she turned back to retort to the comment from the ex-heiress. "Hey, it was one t-" She was immediately cutoff by a finger placed on her lips by said Schnee.

"That doesn't mean I don't believe you can be a good person, you know. Honestly, you're always so quick to respond."

Neo giggled, though it sounded more like wheezing as it came out in short coughs. The others turned to make sure she was in fact alright even as Emerald gently helped her to her feet. Her balance was severely hindered however, something that Emerald was glad to assist with as she supported the girl even as she looked over the group once more.

"I still think she needs to apologize for what she did to Penny, though!" Ruby exclaimed from just off to the side.

"I mean, all that would take is a pretty tall plate of cookies." Yang pointed out as though it were common knowledge, something that was attested to by nearly the entire group nodding in agreement.

Emerald's face scrunched up in confusion. "Wait, that's it?"

Yang looked towards a cross Ruby before facing Emerald once more, this time with an almost sadistic pleasure. "Oh, these cookies will need to be like the gods themselves made them to convince her. I'd say good luck, but I don't think enough of that exists."

Blake, for the first time, spoke to Emerald with an almost apologetic tone. "There are some battles better left unfought, you know."

Emerald felt sweat bead on the back of her neck at what seemed to be the most daunting task set for her, even more so than choosing to stand against Cinder.

Neo interrupted this thought however as a question left her mouth. "Where's Frost?"

Everyone's mood suddenly darkened as they gave uneasy looks towards the standoff still occurring in the courtyard, the electricity still crackling between their two forms as they continued to struggle against one another. Neo's eye widened in fright as she recognized the dangerous look in Frost's eyes , thought this was the most intense she had ever seen it. Even as she did, the fight suddenly ended with a bang as Adam's sword shattered with an explosion of Dust as his body was sent sailing across the clearing. His body rolled and bounced a few times before he landed in a half-stand, his body smoking as his face was scrunched up in pain.

* * *

"How…are you this powerful?" His voice came out cracked as he spat out a tooth to the side.

"You may have given yourself over to something that made you stronger in exchange…but the thing inside me has had years to grow and fester…and it still isn't in total control…" Frost heaved out as his shoulders sagged from his exertion. "How much stronger do you think it would be if it DID have full power? Is that a question you really want to know the answer to? Because I know of a way that we can both find out. You might not like it too much, though."

"What? Are you going to kill me?" Adam scoffed as he stood up straighter with a victorious look on his face. "You know that if you do, I've won."

"Do you really think I care about the supposed victories of a dead man? You dug your grave when you killed Neo, you bastard. There is nowhere you can go where I won't eventually find you and break you like the spineless tool that you are."

"Then prove it! Kill me now and deliver the justice you so graciously insist of delivering!" Adam spread his arms wide as he stood vulnerable before Frost with an open stance.

"…With pleasure…" Frost's legs flashed for a moment as he leapt from the ground with a fist knocked back, his Semblance carrying him in long strides towards the man that stood waiting for his final blow.

"Frost!"

Adam felt the wind rush past his face a moment later, though there was no satisfying crack of bone on bone as the fist never met his face. Instead, it sat hovered mere inches from his face as the white-haired boy in front of him stood frozen with wide-eyes that slowly turned to face the direction that the shout had come from. Disappointment filled his own face as he turned and realized who it was that had spoken before an even more sinister look filled his eyes.

"Oh…oh this is perfect." Adam clutched his aching sides with glee as he bent over from amusement. "He dove into the depths of hell because he thought she was gone, and now he falls even further as she sees him as he is – a monster! I really have won!"

"Oh, shut up." Qrow's voice came from behind him, causing Adam to whirl with a shocked look even as the blunt end of the sword collided with his face and he collapsed like a sack of bricks.

Frost only stood with shocked eyes as he was frozen to the spot looking at Neo standing against Emerald's side. She had died…how was she standing right now? What in the hell was going on?!

"Frost…don't do this…" Neo's voice came out in hoarse takes as she slowly broke free of Emerald's grasp and stumbled towards him. Even as others moved to intervene, Ozpin put out an arm to stop them even as Qrow stood by with his sword drawn as he stood over the unconscious form of Adam Taurus. "You kept going on about how you wanted to protect people…but this isn't the way to do it. Don't become the monster you promised to fight against. Please…for my sake. I don't want the boy I fell in love with to disappear."

Frost's eyes widened in fear and surprise as he stumbled back from Neo's approaching form. "Neo…you can't. I'm a monster, you heard what Adam said. You saw what I almost did because I thought that I lost you. What kind of protector is that?! How ca I swear to defend people if I could turn on them at any moment and become the very thing I'm trying to save them from?! You can't love someone like that!"

"I can…because despite all that you are a kind and caring person. You fought to stop Adam because you knew it needed to be done, and a small part of you knew that killing him might be necessary to keep others safe. The life of a Huntsman isn't all sunshine and daisies as our parents used to say. They tried to warn us at a young age about some of the hardships they had to deal with to try and convince us to pick a safer life. And even if we didn't, we'd know a small part of the truth of that life. So just…stop…please."

"Neo…I can't…" Frost stated as he continued to scramble away from her. "This isn't like Atlas or Patch. This isn't something I can walk away from. I attacked the others, I nearly killed a person, and I did it all for selfish reasons. I didn't do it to protect the others; I did it because I was furious at what Adam did to you. I'm not the same person anymore, and I can never go back to that life. No one can change that."

"Now look at who's being stubborn…" Neo continued her approach even as Frost backed into a wall with a fearful look on his face. Her face was calm even as she finished walking up to him as he turned his head away from and closed his eyes in shame. She responded by reaching out a hand to gently cup his cheek as she pulled his face over and down to gently meet his lips with her own in a chaste kiss. The two held that pose for a few moments before Neo broke away with a small smile on her face even as Frost looked at her with shock and wide eyes.

Their moment was interrupted however, as a massive Nevermore just passed over the top of a nearby building before swooping down and plucking Frost off of the ground mere seconds after he was able to shove Neo away from him as he noticed the path the Grimm was taking. Even as the others tried to take shots at the large birds, they were forced to change targets as a large pack of Grimm leapt over the same building and fought into their midst, forcing them all to fight for their lives for a few moments as they dispatched the beasts with ease. Their purpose had been successful however.

Frost was gone.

* * *

 **Alright, I'll be honest, this probably isn't one of my best chapters to date, but it is a necessary one to set the stage for the final act and events of the story. Not to say that it's ending anytime soon, just that this particular arc on Menagerie is effectively at a wrap and we now move into the last big segment that I've had planned for this story. And as always, I will see you all again in a couple weeks for the next update.**


	34. Chapter 34

Pain wracked Frost's body as the Nevermore's talons burned into his arms. It was all he could do to stay conscious so that he could see where the beast was taking him rather than black out from the agony he felt. It didn't help that he could still feel the burning rage of the Grimm inside of him, angry that it's kill had been interrupted and forced to idle while he attempted to reel his emotions back in. This wouldn't have been possible were it not for Neo's timely interruption stopping him from finishing off Adam Taurus and cementing his fall into darkness. But he could still feel himself teetering on the edge of the cliff as the abyss below beckoned louder and louder for him to jump.

The question was; how was she alive? He had felt her pulse fade in his arms, seen her body go limp from the injuries she had sustained. How had she been able to slowly limp up to him before kissing him of all things?!

That final memory caused sorrowful tears to build in his eyes as he felt the burning sting of them fall down his face. How many times had he wanted to confess how he felt for her, only to not bother due to not feeling it was the right time or because they were caught up in the middle of some sort of commotion? Fate was cruel for giving him a taste of what he could have had…only to rip it away in one literal swoop as the beast now holding him and flown into their midst. He had been lucky that he'd been able to react quick enough to shove Neo out of its path before its outstretched limbs had grasped his body before lifting off once more.

His eyes widened suddenly as he remembered something he'd done privately some time back in case of emergency as his head and eyes swiveled to face the pocket he knew his scroll to be in. The muscles in his arm burned as he tried to reach into the confines of the fabric of his jacket, only to come up short as the bird's grip kept his arm from properly bending in the direction he wanted it to go. As panic began to set in, his eyes noticed the rough shape of an airship hidden within a cluster of trees, however this one was noticeably not the one they had arrived on Menagerie in. Without anything else to do within the Nevermore's grip, his panic only increased as he realized that the beast was beginning to descend in the direction of the exact same thing he had just noticed.

Whatever it was, he was going to find out very soon. It was as they approached that the burning sensation in his head that he knew to be the Grimm inside him began to swell once more.

* * *

Neo sat frozen on the ground with an outstretched hand towards the very spot that Frost had been mere moments ago, a look of shock and pain etched across her face even as everyone else batted the horde of Grimm surrounding them. The sounds of gunshots and the crunching of Grimm limbs echoed through the air, but this meant little to the small girl as nothing else seemed to matter at that point in time. She barely felt it when a strong hand grabbed her by the shoulder to give her a shake before it moved to her waist and hoisted her up to be carried over someone's shoulder. She never noticed how close a Beowolf's maw came to biting off her head before it was shattered in a blast of Dust even as the panicked face of Ruby filled her vision, her mouth moving but no sound coming out as she tried to get Neo's attention.

All that mattered was the fact that Frost was gone…literally.

She had always had nightmares that he would eventually disappear from her life much like everyone else she had known growing up, but she had never thought it would ever actually happen. She had always believed that his dumb smirk and bad humor would be at her side for the rest of their lives and beyond if she had had her wish. It had almost seemed like that dream would have come true as she had placed that kiss on his lips in a moment that felt like it had been ages ago. But then the Nevermore had swooped in and plucked him off the ground like a bird of prey grabbing a small critter in its hunt for food. She had seen the worry in his face as he had put his hands against her shoulders before shoving her away with as much force as he could muster. And then her vision had been filled with black feathers as the beast narrowly missed her and instead left with the peron that she had finally thought she would be able to be honest with her feelings about.

Her head slowly turned as she glanced around at the group of fighters around her cleared a path through the Grimm as they seemed to be travelling down a random street in the city. These beasts had taken the last thing she had left from her childhood away from her. She had no one left aside from people that she still barely knew compared to anyone else she had ever known before.

That was the final straw as her influx of emotions finally caused her to snap.

* * *

A shrill scream echoed from Neo's throat as she teleported off of Yang's shoulder with a flash, her hand grasping the weapon on her belt as she flipped a switch on the side of its shaft. A moment later a small short sword fitted with the blade that the weapon normally contained ejected from the barrel, her other hand flying out to grasp it in a tight grip even as she switched the parasol to its gun mode, the barrel and sight from Roman Torchwick's old cane popping into view as the Dust barrels within clicked into place. Her body became a blur of light and limbs as she teleported back and forth amongst the crowd of monsters that surrounded them, her blade lashing out at individual opponents even as the other hand fired the blasting mechanism for the gun into clusters of the beasts that were away from her. Her face was alight with fury as she felt the blade cleanly slice and weave through her foes even as the smell of smoke and fire filled the air from her continuous firing of her gun.

Pain filled her mind as the occasional monster would swipe out with claws or teeth and brush against her Aura; something that had thankfully been renewed when Ozpin had revived her, even if she had felt dizzy at first due to the disorienting feeling of being revived in the first place. Her only focus was on destroying every last one of the monstrosities that had finally managed to take away everything she had ever cared about in the world. That or die trying since at least it would let her see her family once more after not seeing them for so long…or at least, that's what she would have done had the sudden occurrence of a blunt object slamming into the side of her head not knocked her out.

The last thing she remembered seeing was that of a worried Emerald reaching out for her as her vision faded to black while the Grimm closed in once more.

"There's too many of them! We need to get to safer territory!" Qrow's voice called out over the sounds of battle while everyone tried to keep the Grimm off of each other.

"There's another building where the survivors would have gone along with my parents!" Blake called out over the chaos. "We'll have to fight right through the horde to get to them, though!"

"It will suffice for now!" Ozpin shouted back even as he lashed out with his cane and crushed the skull of an incoming Ursa with a single blow without breaking a sweat. "Everyone follow Miss Belladonna through the Grimm! Watch each other's backs so that no one gets hurt!"

"What about Neo?!" Emerald called out as her eyes briefly flashed to the girl sitting limply on the ground as she slashed her blades through anything that came to close to either of them.

"Grab her and go! We don't have time to try and calm her down right now!" Qrow snapped back as he switched his sword to its scythe variant and decapitated three Beowolves in one swing. "Yang!"

"On it!" The blonde replied as she unleashed a salvo of Dust into a pack of Grimm headed in her direction so that it would also launch her towards the girl in question. She quickly placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to give it a shake, and when she was met with no response, switched to her other arm as it grasped her around the waist before hoisting her up onto her shoulder in a half-assed grip due to the hurry they were in. "I've got her!"

"Good! Now let's get moving!"

With that, the group of them slowly made their way through the mass of Grimm that seemed to keep coming as Blake called out directions from within their group. Everything was going relatively smoothly as Emerald saw Ruby briefly move over to stand behind Yang as she tried to get Neo's attention.

"Neo! You need to snap out of it! We need your help!"

"Ruby! She won't listen!" Emerald called out to catch the young reaper's attention. "Frost just got taken by a giant Nevermore and for all we know he could be dead as we speak! I'm torn up about it, too, but he was the only person she had left from when they were kids! She won't be in her right mind right now!"

As though to emphasize her point, Neo's eyes suddenly filled with fury as she looked past Ruby and towards the Grimm following them as her mouth opened in a bloodthirsty screech. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, she had teleported off of Yang's shoulder in a flash of light before reappearing directly in front of a large Beowolf as her hand reached for her weapon at her waist. Within seconds, the parasol had been converted to a small short sword and the familiar cane gun as she unleashed a frenzy into the monster's that were tailing them through the alley they currently presided. The Grimm in front of her lurched as its chest was carved open from a ferocious slash of her blade even as an oncoming pack of Boarbatusks was engulfed in a blast of fire that had launched from the other half of her weapon. Everyone paused for a moment as they watched the raging girl dance from Grimm to Grimm in a flurry of attacks while tears streamed from her eyes and onto the ground below.

"Oh god." Yang stated plainly as her eyes widened at the sight. "It's like fighting against her on the train all over again." Her head whirled to face Emerald with confused eyes. "I thought Frost said she was clean of whatever was inside her after what happened during the attack on Beacon! What's going on?!"

"Something not of the Grimm, I'm afraid." Ozpin calmly replied from towards the front of the group as multiple eyes turned to face him. "She has been consumed by the pain and torment in her heart and has resorted to taking it out on the Grimm given what they have done to those around her."

"Professor…how do you know that?" Jaune asked with a perplexed tone. "She never even went to our school, so how could you know anything about her."

"Because the only other person she truly cared about was arrested on the grounds of having information about Roman Torchwick following the Breach. It was my business to investigate someone that would be staying at my school as well as any connections they may have to the events of the outside world. It was through that I was able to discover roughly what had transpired in the village they had used to live before being received at one of the orphanages within Vale."

"Are we really doing this now, Oz?" Qrow stated with a grim look on his face. "We don't exactly have a low of time before more Grimm get drawn by her emotions. It'll be like a goddamned buffet for them."

Ozpin sighed reluctantly as he closed his eyes. "I suppose you're right. Time, while it is something I can alter to a small measure, is not something we have a lot of at the moment. We must reach the safe house Miss Belladonna speaks of first before we can talk more."

"But how are we supposed to stop her in the state she's in?" Yang asked with an exasperated look on her face as she gestured towards Neo.

"Easy." Qrow retorted as he switched his scythe back to its sword form while slowly marching in Neo's direction. It was almost inaudible amidst Neo's rampage, but everyone swore they could hear the words "Sorry, kid" pass from his lips even as he brought up his weapon and crashed the blunt end of his weapon's pommel into the back of the girls head, cleanly knocking her out as her body crumpled to the ground as her eyes fluttered for a few seconds. The moment she started to fall, Emerald started moving forward quickly to grab Neo as her body hit the ground, her arms carefully reaching under the girl to carry her in a bridal fashion even as someone else quickly grabbed her weapons off the ground while they all made their way back down the streets of Menagerie.

* * *

Frost landed with a grunt as the Nevermore roughly dropped him onto the ground just a bit in front of the black airship that he had seen earlier. Now free of the monster's confines, his hand quickly lashed out to his pocket to retrieve his scroll even as he started riffling through its contents in the hope that he would find what he was looking for. His eyes briefly flashed upwards towards the ship as he heard the sound of its hatch opening before returning to his scroll until he found the command he was looking for. His free hand started reaching out to activate his scroll only to stop as a barbed whip lashed out and wrapped itself around the unobstructed limb.

"I see that our greatest achievement had finally returned to us." A man's voice sounded from ahead of Frost. He strained his neck as he struggled to look up and see who it was that was talking.

His eyes were met with the visage of a man in a lab coat with black and white hair and piercing yellow eyes that seemed almost snakelike in the way they gazed at him. A forked tongue passed from its lips for a moment, cementing the fact that this man was a Snake Faunus even as a sickening smirk grew on its face.

"Ooooh, yes. I recognize the fire in those eyes. It seems that despite not being under direct supervision you have still grown in power my friend. Our leader will be quite pleased with that information."

"I'm not your friend, whoever you are. Something tells me that if I knew who you were I'd want to force it into the ground until you choked on the dirt itself." Frost spat out, venom is his voice even as he struggled to move his hand from within the confines of the barbed weapon.

"I'm sorry, was I speaking to you?" The man commented with a tilt of his head. "No, I was speaking to my brethren inside of you. You see, you're now a part of something much bigger than anything else you may have known before. But we can't have you sending any sort of distress signal to your allies to come rescue you, so that's why I had to restrain you. It's a shame, really. I would have much preferred a more pleasant introduction."

"…Who said it was a distress signal?" Frost commented as he smirked slightly before a sudden surge of electricity passed from his arm into the whip before it shocked the man holding it, forcing him to let it go as it immediately loosened on Frost's limb. His hand quickly lashed out as it pressed a button on his scroll before a dinging sound echoed through the clearing.

"Well…that was slightly unpleasant." The man said as he straightened his coat slightly before marching towards Frost and delivering a clean uppercut to the boy's jaw. "It seems that there is still enough humanity in you to be a tad bit flippant. No matter. We'll work that out of your system soon enough." His eye turned to look at the scroll in Frost's other hand before tutting slightly. "We can't have that device still working however, regardless of what it was you managed to finish when you so rudely interrupted me." His whip lashed out once more before wrapping around the metallic device and swinging it back in his direction. The man then dropped the scroll on the ground before sharply delivering his foot to it, shattering the device in the process. "There, now you won't have any rescue coming for you."

"You make it sound like I want to be rescued. Bit of an assumption don't you think?" Frost retorted from his kneeling position on the ground as he swayed in the place. The events of the day were just now beginning to catch up with him as well as the pain and blood loss from being carried by the Nevermore. It was only a matter of time before he collapsed from exhaustion.

"Oh, you'll want to be rescued by the time we get started. Trust me."

"Give it your best shot, then. We'll see if it registers."

"With pleasure…especially after what your parents did."

Frost's head whipped up in sudden surprise and focus, his voice filled with confusion. "Wait…what?!"

He never received his answer as the whip collided heavily with his skull, the immense pain blacking him out within moments as he collapsed heavily to the ground.

* * *

 **A bit late in the day for it to be finally posted, but hey, it's not technically late for Thursday where I'm currently at...I totally didn't cut it close at all.**

 **Needless to say, things won't really be slowing down much for the remainder of the story, but that doesn't mean that its going to be ending abruptly. People to visit, places to be, it's all going to be quite an exhilarating time for all parties involved. Until the next updater on Jan. 18, however, I bid you all goodnight.**


	35. Chapter 35

**A little out of place, but this time around I'm prefacing with my author's note. Primarily to apologize for this chapter being relatively short and only slightly late by comparison to what I've done before. I honestly didn't feel like this chapter fit within the end of the last one, rather as a small bridge to the next segment, but also because I couldn't really think of more to put in without it feeling rough. Honestly, this chapter is still kind of garbage compared to my usual work, but it will get the job done for now. Hopefully you can all forgive me for slacking a bit this week before moving onto the next big segment and chain of events. It'll be...interesting to say the least.**

* * *

Neo's head throbbed as she slowly regained consciousness, a groan escaping her lips as she carefully moved into an upright sitting position with one hand keeping her propped up while the other gently rubbed the back of her head where the pain felt it's most prominent. As she did so, she slowly looked around to see where she was, the soft glow of lit candles and torches offering the only light to see around her. As far as she could tell, she was inside what looked like a rather basic room without much in the way of furnishings, though she wasn't alone as her head finally made its way to facing the entrance of the room where a visitor silently stood against the wall. Emerald silently stared back at Neo with what appeared to be a neutral expression as Neo shook her head slightly to clear the lingering traces of drowsiness from her head, a groan of discomfort accompanying it as the sudden movement caused a brief rush of pain to weave its way through her skull once more.

"Head hurting a bit?" Emerald asked with a slightly sour tone. "Good. Maybe it'll teach you to not act so much like Frost when things get crazy." Neo's face scrunched up into a look of anger, something that Emerald ignored as she continued. "I thought you were supposed to be HIS anchor whenever he got worked up, but from where I was standing you're just as unhinged as him sometimes. And you don't even have a Grimm inside you."

"Emerald…" Neo slowly uttered through clenched teeth. "Shut. Up. You don't know anything about the two of us, even if you have been travelling with us for the last few months since Beacon was attacked. So you can keep your words about Cobalt to yourself."

"Oooooh, we're using his first name now, that's a change of pace." Emerald sniped without missing a beat. "You must be really upset to go there."

"You have absolutely no idea how I feel right now since all you can do is pick people's pockets and use illusions to trick people into doing what you want. You've never been good with people, and you never will be." Neo hoped the words – no matter how little she actually meant them – would suffice in getting Emerald to go away. She didn't want to deal with anyone right now. She just wanted to curl up and cry now that Frost was gone without anyone to see her at her weakest. Only he got that privilege given how close they were.

"I know when someone's lying to themselves given how often I used to do it." Emerald stated plainly as she moved away from the wall and walked over to sit next to Neo on the mattress she had been left on. "I can at least take a guess that this is you being defensive without Frost here, but you may have to accept that he's gone for good this time unlike when he ran away from Cinder to get you two help."

"I CAN'T!" Neo cried out as her eyes scrunched shut and she felt the burning sensation of tears forming once more. "He can't be gone! Not after everything we've been through!"

"You saw what happened as much as the rest of us. He got picked up by a Nevermore and carried off to who knows where. What are the odds he'd actually survive that, especially since wherever it took him there was likely to be tons of Grimm that he couldn't fight on his own?"

"…he can't be gone…he just can't…" Neo sullenly mumbled as the tears fell at a rapid pace. "…I finally got the chance to show him how I felt…and then those stupid monsters took him away…it's not fair…"

"Hey," Emerald called over to the grief-stricken girl, to which Neo turned her head somewhat to acknowledge she was listening. "If it's any consolation, you seriously fucked up those Grimm you went all rage mode on until Qrow knocked you out so we could keep moving." Neo's unchanging expression showed that whatever her efforts had been didn't seem to succeed. "…Shit, bad time. Still getting used to some of the more complicated friend things, I guess."

"Emerald, I appreciate what you're trying to do but-" Neo's voice was suddenly cut off as a beeping sound echoed from her Scroll, much to the confusion of the two girls in the room. Her hand slowly reached out to the device to see what it was, only to see an unopened file sitting on her screen. The two of them gave each other a silent look before Emerald nodded her head back to the screen as though stating that she should open it. Both of them kept their eyes glued to the screen as Neo pressed the button to open the file and view its contents.

* * *

Frost grumbled to himself as he sat on the bed in his inn room back in Atlas, his Scroll set to recording and sitting on the dresser across from him as his head hung looking towards the floor.

"…How in the hell am I supposed to even start something like this?" His voice was filled with hesitation as he looked up towards the Scroll as its red light flashed on and off to show that it was still running. "Seriously, I feel like such an idiot right now. I shouldn't be doing this with a Scroll; I should be saying it to her face." He slowly got up from the bed to walk over to the dresser, his hand gently reaching out for the Scroll as though to turn it off, but he hesitated at the last minute before kneeing down to have his face in view once more.

"I think we both know how that would go, you idiot. You'd freeze up like every other time and just change the topic to finding the others again. She doesn't deserve that, and you know it." Frost silently stared at the screen before chuckling to himself as he shook his head gently. "…and now I'm talking to an image of myself on a Scroll as I try to record something important. Maybe I should just keep this as part of it to give her a laugh or something." He got up from his position before moving back to the bed and sitting on it once more.

"Might as well get it over with." Frost cleared his throat for a moment before gaining a more serious expression as he stared directly at the screen. "Neo, if you're watching this, then something has likely happened to me where I'm unsure if I'll ever get the chance to be completely honest with you. If I never have to send this recording then I'll be a happy guy because nothing went to absolute shit before I got this opportunity. Either way, here's the truth." He was silent for a moment as he turned to glance out the window of the room into the open streets of Atlas.

"I love you, Neo. I always have. It just took me longer than it should have for me to realize it. Ever since everything that happened when we were kids to everything that's happened now has truly made me realize how much I appreciate you being there at my side all these years. Even if we never get the opportunity to do what we truly want, I want to at least be able to tell you how I feel. You've been my anchor for so long, keeping me from being more of an idiot than I already am, to making sure that I keep on the path that I set for myself all those years ago. Anyone else might have tried to take a chance with some of the students our age when I was stuck at Beacon for a bit, but I could only ever think about you and how badly I needed to set things right and get you out of there. Even if it was for a different reason at the time since we didn't know the truth about the experiments Cinder was trying on us behind Torchwick's back. Either way, you have always been my better half, and I hope that one day I can get the chance to actually tell you in person rather than through some dinky recording like this. You deserve better than that. And even if it kills me, I'll make sure you get to live a happy life, no matter what."

* * *

Neo's eyes glistened with tears as she slowly set down the Scroll next to her, the recording having stopped there. However, a soft smile lit up the bottom half of her face, leading to a very conflicting image as Emerald sat in silence next to the girl.

"…Wow." The green-haired girl uttered with disbelief as she tried to put her thoughts together. "I never would have guessed he was any good with words considering previous conversation we've had."

"He'll surprise you like that." Neo stated plainly as she slowly got up from the bed, the pain in her head now forgotten as sheer bliss coursed through her. "Now we just need to find him so I can give him an answer."

"Uh…what?" Emerald shook her head in disbelief. "…He got snatched up by a Nevermore. How in the hell are we supposed to find him when we don't even know where he was being taken or even knowing if he's alive or not?"

"Because he had to be alive to send that message." Neo replied as she walked over to the door before looking back at Emerald expectantly. "And if that's the case, then I'm not giving up hope that he's still alive."

"But you heard what he said. That message was for if he was unsure how good his odds were that he'd be able to give you the truth. How is that supposed to be a good sign?"

"Because he never specified that he thought he was going to die. I know Frost, and he would have said that directly if he thought there was any risk. Knowing him and his occasional paranoia, he probably recorded a similar message for in case he was about to die to make things more clear. All we have to do it find him."

"Without any clue whatsoever?"

"…Shit." Neo commented as she put her Scroll back into her pocket with a grumpy expression. "…Why do you do these things, Em? I was in a really good mood after seeing that and now I'm upset again since we don't have a trail to follow."

"Hey, I-"

"I believe I may be of some assistance, you two." The voice of an older man came from just outside the room as the two turned to face Ozpin. "You see, there was another reason that I happened to be in Menagerie when Qrow found me. And I believe it may be of some use in finding Mister Frost. But first, we must gather the others to talk strategy before we can continue."

Without another word, Ozpin walked away from the room and down the hall, leaving the two girls standing there in confusion before they quickly gathered up their things and hurried to follow after the previously missing headmaster and towards the next leg of their journey.


	36. Chapter 36

**No special news this time around, just a regular old update to the story, so I'll keep this short and sweet. Any thoughts or questions can be fired by PM or review, otherwise I'll see you all again in a couple of weeks for the next update.**

* * *

The sound of muffled voices gradually filled Frost's ears as he regained consciousness. They sounded like they were coming from all around him, but as his senses slowly returned, that was the least of his concerns. The moment he tried to move his arms and legs, he quickly realized that his body was currently pinned in an upright position as he could feel gravity trying to slide him off of the platform he was currently stuck to. Frost grunted in frustration as he tried to pull himself free of his binds, only to fail as he realized that he was currently unable to activate his Semblance.

"I wouldn't struggle too much if I were you." A deep voice echoed from around him. "You don't exactly have any Aura to spare at the moment, so trying too hard could result in some rather painful injuries. And we can't exactly have that."

Frost looked up at the sound of the voice to see a man wearing a dark suit standing in front of him. It was at that moment that Frost realized that the sounds that been coming from around him was that of people's footsteps as countless scientists and researchers walked about the room. At least, that's what Frost assumed given that they all seemed to be wearing lab coats and carried around vials and containers of odd looking substances. After processing the room's contents, he returned to looking – more like glaring – at the man on the opposite side of the glass window separating him from the rest of the room's occupants.

"And why is that?" Frost snapped with a barely restrained snarl.

"Because you are far too valuable to damage before the tests even begin."

"What tests?" Frost felt a budding sense of dread begin to fill his mind as the man continued to speak.

"Why, the tests on the Grimm inside of you. You and I both know what currently resides within you, waiting to spring forth and wreak havoc once more."

A look of confusion crossed Frost's face for a brief instant as the man's words flitted into his ears. "…Once more? The hell is that supposed to mean?" The man sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers. Frost had to strain his hearing as much as possible to even catch a part of what the man mumbled under his breath.

"…just as stubborn as the damned fools that raised him…"

"Raised me?" Frost asked without a second thought, red flags flashing in his mind even more violently. "How in the hell do you know my parents?!"

The man straightened his posture with a quick clearing of his throat before returning his steely gaze to Frost's trapped form. "That would depend on how much you've managed to "remember" from your passenger. Think about it. Who else could I happen to be?"

Frost lost himself in thought as he wracked his brain for any sort of clue as to the man's identity. He knew something was off given the equal parts dread and anticipation that his body felt at that moment in time. But why was that?

And then it clicked; and as it did so, a look of pure dread found its way to Frost's face, any traces of confusion or anger lost to a sea of blood and tears.

"…You…you're the one that killed them…"

The man simply stood there in silence as a sinister grin began to form upon his face. "You're partly right, child. You see, I AM the man who first created the Grimm-human hybrid, but it wasn't I that killed your family…well, I suppose I did finish off your pitiful mother. But YOU, or I suppose a PART of you, killed the others. So I would say that both of us are responsible at this moment in time."

Frost's head hung limp as the pain of witnessing the deaths of his and Neo's parents filled his mind once more. But no tears fell. Instead, a burning hatred began to form as Frost pulled against his constraints once more, this time with a hatred he had not consciously felt in a long time. Not since the day he had nearly rushed Torchwick when Ozpin had led him off of one of General Ironwood's airships.

"…Why?" His voice was barely a whisper as the question left his lips.

The man leaned forward mockingly with a hand cupped to his ear. "What was that, boy? You'll have to speak up."

"I said…why." This time it was more of a statement than a question. His head tilted back up to glare at the man as he felt the telltale signs of the Grimm inside of him swelling up with power. His voice was cold and filled with hatred as he felt the words bubble up in his throat. "What did they ever do to you? What did that village ever do to you? None of those people deserved what happened that night."

The man shook his heading with a clicking sound before sighing deeply and looking at Frost once more. "You're only partially right again, boy. You are correct in stating that the village itself did not deserve what happened to it. But, you see, they simply happened to fall in with the wrong group of people. Namely, your parents and their teammates."

"What the fuck are you getting on about now?" Frost was rapidly losing patience as he felt his head begin to throb somewhat, his eyes slowly changing from their usual white and blue to the trademark black and red that signified the Grimm presence within him.

"All in due time. First we need to start at the beginning for you to properly understand why I despise Huntsmen and Huntresses and their foolish ideal to defeat the Grimm." The man took a deep breath before he began.

* * *

You see, a number of years ago, before the current generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses were born, I was a professor at Vacuo. As you might also know, Vacuo is one of the most underpopulated kingdoms in Remnant due to the amount of uninhabitable desert that resides on its continent. Mistral has a high quantity of Grimm as well, but the land itself is still mainly hospitable, much like the kingdom of Vale. And Atlas has its own territory acting as a buffer from the Grimm despite how much of the continent is unpopulated as well. But Vacuo was in a bad way at the time. The Grimm were a constant threat, with civilians, students, and teachers alike dying to the Grimm if they weren't careful enough.

So it was decided that a group of teachers focused their attention on an alternative to stopping the Grimm. Something different from simply using Semblances or Dust to try and combat the creatures to give ourselves the space to breath. I was a member of that very team, and for the first while, we were unable to produce any sort of useful results. That was…until someone managed to trap a Grimm right within the Academy walls. Any other attempts to capture or detain a Grimm was met with either the deaths of numerous combatants, or the death of the creature itself due to their continued ferocity. What was even more peculiar was the type of Grimm that it was. Never before had we witnessed something like it, and judging from its general shape we assumed it was more of a scout that had happened to delve too closely rather than be meant as a fighter like the Grimm we had all come to know.

The very notion of the Grimm having scouts baffled all of us, as we believed the creatures to be mindless and random in their attacks. But after seeing this creature and the calmness it seemed to possess when viewing things, we realized that this changed everything. And so we spent days studying it, never sleeping, and barely taking breaks to keep ourselves sustained so as to avoid hunger delaying our research. One of the researchers having a Semblance that allowed for an area of selective insomnia was quite useful in that regard as the lure of sleep was also kept off of us. Those days showed us how useful some Semblances could be when used off of the battlefield.

And then, one night, everything changed for those of us in that centre. For as we worked on our tools and instruments to try and understand the creature better, we heard a voice. At first, we wondered if it was simply a joke being played by the researcher that was keeping us all awake, like some sort of long-term effect of their Semblance or a simple prank by one of the other scientists. But then we heard it again. And again. And it was at that moment that we realized that the voice was coming from the Grimm itself. We soon realized that these beings were far more unique than we had ever believed when the voice introduced itself as the master of the Grimm, as the creature we had captured was simply a means for them to communicate with those long distances away from it. Immediately, one of the other researchers asked what the beings name was. And to our continued surprise, it answered.

And in reply, it said its name was…

* * *

"Salem." Ozpin finished as he stood calmly in front of all of the rooms residents. At present, the room was also occupied by Neo, Emerald, Penny, Team RWBY, Qrow, Jaune, Nora, and Ren as well as the headmaster himself.

"So…hang on a second." Emerald stated as she put her hands up for a moment. "You're telling us that not only are the Grimm actually puppets, but that their leader has been around for thousands of years trying to kill of humans and Faunus alike?"

"Were you even paying attention to what the man said, kid?" Qrow asked as he took a quick swig from his flask.

"Yeah, I was." Emerald snapped back. "It just doesn't make sense."

"And most people would say the same thing. Why do you think so few people are even aware of her? If she were common knowledge, she would be one of the first things you kids would learn about when you go to school."

"But at the same time, her presence being known only gives her more power." Ozpin spoke up so as to continue his earlier conversation. "If the general population were aware of her existence, then it would create a widespread panic that would only fuel the Grimm more. And so her identity and presence were kept a secret from the day she was first discovered. But things have changed within the last few years. Originally her goal was the destruction of all life on Remnant. Now, as you've all seen or heard about, people are going missing, only to return with Grimm planted within them. Countless villages have fallen to this very tactic, and it is greatly in part responsible for why humanity has been slowly sheltering themselves more and more within the kingdoms. We are very quickly running out of room for everyone to live together, and if we don't find a way to stop her plans soon, none of us are likely to survive."

Everyone was silent for a time, before Neo spoke up with a question of her own.

"So…the village where Frost and I grew up…it was one of the last villages to be directly attacked by these hybrids then?"

Ozpin nodded. "As far as we can tell, yes. The man that orchestrated the attack overextended and was caught red-handed in the act. Thanks to that, we were able to dismantle a large portion of Salem's plan and force her to be more careful as to how she would convert humans and Faunus to her own side. There are others out there loyal to her, and likely as we speak many of them continue to try and convert more hybrids to bolster their forces."

With that admittance, everyone grew silent for a time as they all let it sink in just what they were up against.

"So…what do we even do next if there's no real lead?" Ruby asked the question on everyone's mind.

"When did Oz ever say that we didn't have a lead?" Qrow snorted under his breath as he caught everyone's attention. At that all eyes returned to Ozpin, who simply sighed and gave Qrow a pointed look before beginning to speak. The drunk gave no cares in the world as he simply shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"There is a single individual that may be able to lead us in the right direction. But to get them to answer we will need to be especially careful not to arouse suspicion. As a matter of fact, I believe some of you have already met them." Ozpin's gaze turned slowly to Neo and Emerald, who both tilted their heads in confusion.

"Us?" Emerald wondered aloud. "When the hell did we get a chance to meet someone like that?"

"I believe the two of you as well as Mister Frost encountered a village that was under attack by a previously unseen breed of Grimm, correct?" Ozpin stated with a knowing look.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"There is a woman there. Someone that has been under constant supervision for some time now after she helped us in stalling Salem's plan when she admitted to it having gone too far. She likely goes by an alias, but her actual name is Denise Amala." A worried look crossed Neo's face, something that did not go unnoticed by the others in the room. "I assume you have a hunch as to who this person might be, Miss Neo?"

"It…wouldn't happen to be Amalie, would it?"

Qrow scoffed loudly. "Of course. So blatantly obvious and yet no one bats an eyes at it until the truth comes out."

Ozpin ignored Qrow's outburst as he calmly nodded his head. "Rather simple to decipher unfortunately, and that is precisely why she is likely our best lead. There is a good chance that despite her original actions, she still works for Salem and the individuals that spearheaded her plans to meld humans and Faunus with Grimm rather than blatantly destroy them."

"But there's a good chance that she likely ran once we left to go to Atlas!" Neo retorted loudly. "How are we supposed to trust that she'll even still be in Atlas at this point?"

"Because, kiddo…" Qrow stated as he pushed himself away from the wall and the leaning stand he had been in. "If Winter did what she was supposed to when I paid her a little visit, our little rebel ought to be in Atlas' custody as we speak rather than on the run to wherever her boss happens to be. And that's where we're going next."

* * *

"Does that about sum it up?" The man asked calmly as he regarded Frost's seething form strapped within the sealed chamber. "Is your curiosity sated?"

"Enough that I know exactly what I'm going to do to you and this Salem the moment I get out of here." Frost's rage was plainly visible as a vein pulsed on his forehead; his arms straining against the straps holding him in place as well.

The man laughed coldly. "You honestly believe you could pose a remote threat to someone as powerful as Salem? You're as much a fool as your parents when they first got me kicked out of Vacuo for experimenting on their fellow classmates at the time. They were lucky I didn't kill them that night, though I did get my chance for revenge years later."

"I don't care if I don't pose a threat to her. All I care is that people like you ad her aren't able to fuck up more lives than you already have."

"That's going to be rather difficult when you're fighting on the same side." The man regarded Frost with curiosity. "Though I suppose it will be interesting to see just how intense your resolve is as we begin our tests. By the time we're done, there shouldn't be anything left of the original you – only the Grimm that resides within you with a new host body that is ripe for combat."

"I'd like to see you TRY and break me."

"Ooooh…with pleasure."

The man regarded Frost with a cold look as he flipped a switch on the side of the chamber as a gas began to filter in from a vent above Frost's head. The last thing Frost remembered as the darkness set in once more was how much he was going to enjoy frying this entire facility and its inhabitants, no matter what it did to him in the process.


	37. Chapter 37

**Author's notes will follow the chapter this time around, just a heads up.**

* * *

A frown found its way to Frost's face as he gazed out over the back expanse of his mindscape once again. After being forced to deal with one of the people directly responsible for his family's demise and many of the problems he'd had to deal with as of late, he knew that this next interaction was all but inevitable.

" **So…now you know the full story.** " His darker half stated calmly as it faded into view amidst the darkness. A sinister grin grew on its face as it regarded Frost's face for a moment. " **If only you could see the expression on y** **our face right now. It's like a 5-star buffet just feeling the negative emotions coming off of you right now. I can't wait to get the dessert where it's nothing but desperation and a faint glimmer of defeat when I finally take over in full. That moment back in Patch where I had control for a short time was extremely liberating, if you must know, after being caged and unable to act on my own for so long.** "

"…I don't get you." Frost's voice was oddly devoid of emotion as he spoke a few simple words to his doppelganger.

The creature tilted its head in confusion. " **What's there to get? I am the manifestation of your negative traits made physical. The inherent desire that you hold back to punch in someone's face when they wrong you. The need to feel someone at your mercy when in the heat of battle. I am you, but better.** "

"But that's not really true, now is it?" Frost continued to speak calmly as he turned to begin pacing away from the creature, even though there was nowhere to go within the space they currently resided. "You're just a Grimm in a human body, and not even the first one at that. You're simply a puppet master pulling at the strings of another form. It's not really *your* body, now is it?"

" **Trivial matters for pointless debating. Even having control of the body shows that I am the superior being. Something you will soon come to accept as the last dose of drugs work its way into your system. After all, I know you could feel the slight pricking sensation as you fell unconscious. This isn't your place anymore. You will simply be forced to sit back and watch like a bystander while I control your every action and word.** "

"…But not my thoughts." Frost stopped and nodded his head at nothing in particular with a slight humming sound. "That's what I figured."

" **There's no need for me to smother your personality entirely. If anything it will leave a constant source of fear, anger, and dread for me to feed off by leaving a small portion of you alive in here. Otherwise I would need to feed off of the negative emotions around me and be forced to roam for food like my brethren.** **I am not simply some animal scrounging for scraps anymore. I am the superior entity. The next stage of evolution. And my kind WILL take over this world before reducing it to ash. Just as Salem demands.** "

"And was this how you always thought?" Frost asked. "Or did this form of sentience only come into existence because of the experimentation that they performed that put you in human and Faunus bodies? Can you really call it your own sentience if you are simply an extension of someone else?"

The shadow of himself chuckled darkly for a second or two before looking at him with a toothy smile. " **I see what you are trying to do, child. And while it is entertaining in its own way, it is a futile effort. For beings like me, the concept of self is only as important as having a more durable form to further Salem's goals. Something she has been working towards for a great deal of time. It was only thanks to the curiosity of your pathetic races that we have been given a form more survivable than our easily squashed forms from before. Aura is a powerful force after all, something that our original bodies have no way to access. But now we have the same powers as you, but combined with the raw power granted by our Queen.** "

" **And your world will burn for it.** "

Frost's mask finally fell as he turned to face his cohabitant with a look of pure disgust.

"Not if I break this place and the people in it first."

* * *

"What are we even supposed to do once we reach this lady that's going to point the way for us?" Emerald asked with an incredulous look on her face. "I doubt she's going to just bend over and tell us where her old boss is, even if she happens to have some sort of idea."

Qrow set aside his flask after taking a quick swig from it before speaking. "All of you are going to watch the perimeter of the town in case we get any unexpected visitors. Oz and I will find the good doctor and get her to tell us where we need to go. Simple as that."

"Will it actually be that simple based on everything we know, though?" Weiss asked from her place aboard their airship, now more populated than previous trips they had taken.

"…Probably not." Qrow stated with a calm shrug of his shoulders.

"And how is that supposed to help us, exactly?"

"Because, Miss Schnee," Ozpin spoke up from the front of the airship, next to Penny as she held control of the ships systems at present. "We have very good reason to believe that despite her defecting, the lady we are attempting to question is still likely in contact with the people we are hoping to find. And despite her being a scientist, they were all trained in some form of combat at the time as they were teachers and scientists that studied the Grimm directly. And often that work would take them into the field where they would need to protect themselves. Therefore, she will be very dangerous in an enclosed space, hence our placing all of you outside where you can have more room to maneuver whilst Qrow and I attempt to gather information."

The rest of them nodded their heads, despite some being hesitant to not try and join the group to question the woman directly. But that was out of their control at this point, given the older men in control of the situation.

It was with this plan in mind that everyone disembarked the ship calmly and quietly as they touched down in a clearing a short distance away from the village so as to avoid causing a scene. A quick cursory glance across the group showed that everyone had their weapons at their sides should anything go awry in the process – something that every single one of them expected in some capacity. It wasn't matter of "if", but a matter of "when".

The group, due to its size, was met with many cautious glances as they reached the village proper, many citizens quickly ushering either family or themselves into nearby buildings out of worry. Not that anyone blamed them when nearly a dozen armed people suddenly walked up to your home. You would feel the need to shelter yourself as well in case something was about to happen.

The group eventually reached the one of the larger building in the small village before Qrow raised one fist to knock sharply on the door. After waiting a few seconds, the mayor of the town opened the door, his form jumping back slightly in surprise at the sheer number of people in his village all of a sudden. One look across the group told him that this was no simple visit given the number of weapons, though that didn't stop him from acknowledging Neo and Emerald as he caught sight of them within the group.

"Ah, if it isn't some of our towns own saviors! I was hoping I would get to see your faces again someday after everything you've done for us." The man took a deep breath as a more serious look crossed his face. "Though I wish it were for something other than a group of Huntsmen visiting as though they were looking for a fight. What is it I can help you folks with?"

"We apologize for disturbing the peace at this time, I assure you." Ozpin began as he stepped forward to shake the man's hand for a moment. "We are simply here to ask a few questions of one of your village's inhabitants if it's not too much trouble."

The man cleared his throat nervously before addressing Ozpin's question. "Hopefully it's not anything too serious. I would hate for our home to be at risk so soon after we were nearly forced to abandon our homes after being attacked. Our own doctor has been hard at work making sure that everyone wasn't harmed at all in the process since we returned."

"I assure you, it shouldn't take long at all." Ozpin stated calmly with a raised hand. "But it does regard your doctor, as it is. Miss Amalie, if I presume?" A simple nod from the man was all Ozpin needed as he continued. "Excellent. If you could just point out which building she resides in we will ask our questions and then be on our way. Thank you again for your time."

"Not at all." The mayor responded in kind, though far more rigidly as he desperately wished for these people visiting to leave as soon as possible if only for things to become peaceful like they had been up until they're arrival. "It's just in the next building over." A quick gesture of his hand was all they were given as the door slammed shut mere seconds later.

"That was a bit rude, don't you think?" Jaune stated from off to the side of the group.

"Unfortunately for us, this town has every right to be cautious and defensive around us." Ozpin began as they all started walking towards the building the ma mentioned. "They are still attempting to regain a sense of normalcy after the ordeal they suffered not long ago. A large group such as ours visiting like it is does not give the greatest comforts to people looking for safety."

"But it's our job to hunt Grimm. Why should they be scared of us being here if it means they have even more protection?" Ruby asked the question on many of their minds.

"Because it means that there could just be more trouble around the corner if so many of us are here at one time." Emerald answered before either Qrow or Ozpin could speak up. "More protection also means greater risk, so in their minds they see us as the signs of an oncoming storm. Anyone would be nervous at that."

"Well said." Ozpin commented on Emerald's assessment before Qrow turned to face the group in full as they reached their destination.

"Now, a few of you will split into two groups to monitor the exterior of town while one group patrols the town itself to make sure nothing is off. Jaune, Nora, and Ren will comprise one group while Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang will comprise another. As for the last three of you," Qrow turned his attention directly to Neo, Emerald, and Penny. "You will be the ones watching town, since two of you are already known by the town after being here before, and the robo girl will act as backup so that the interior isn't left under guarded in case anything happens. Is everyone clear?" A series of nods and sounds of affirmation were all that was given as groups split off to begin patrolling as Ozpin and Qrow both turned to face the door to the building behind them.

"You know that this is likely going to go south in some fashion, right Oz?"

"…Yes. I desperately wish that it doesn't, but we both know that is highly unlikely given what we now know. They're becoming more active than any other time we've had to deal with them. And I am deeply concerned for this town considering how long one of their own agents was being kept here, even if she did give away their position at the time."

"It was too clean a sweep; we all knew that at the time." Qrow stated with a grunt of disgust. "But we couldn't prove that she hadn't warned some of the higher ups to leave and simply leave behind a skeleton crew with their main base. They'll always have other places to hide out and bide their time. How is this going to be any different?"

"Because," Ozpin stated with a rare expression of frustration on his face. "This time Salem has more forces than she's ever had access to before. Grimm hybrids were never an issue we had to deal with before, and recent appearances of new Grimm and people disappearing in large numbers from countless places means that they are advancing their timetable. We are rapidly running out of time. This interaction will, ideally, allow us to stall her plans for just a little bit longer..." A sad look fell upon Ozpin's face as he looked back over the peaceful town for a few seconds.

"I'm not certain we can prevent a worldwide calamity for much longer otherwise."

* * *

 **Alright, I wanted to save this for after the chapter rather than before so that I didn't pull focus away from the story for the first little bit.** **But anyways, I'll get to the point.**

 **The other day, I had a powerful moment of realization. For those that haven't seen it or heard of it (though I'm not sure how the second one would happen) there was a movie that came out a little while back called The Greatest Showman. Given my impression of musical in the past, I figured it would be alright and leave it at that. But this movie went down a road I didn't expect it to go.**

 **It felt like so many of the songs and scenes spoke directly to my heart as well as creators of any sort of art in general. I felt like it spoke to a younger version of myself as I tried to figure out who I wanted to be and how I fit into the world. It left me breathless and choked up as different things happened over the course of the movie.** **And I don't know if I'll ever encounter a moment quite like that again in my life. But even if I don't, I appreciate what The Greatest Showman did for me.**

 **It reminded me why I started writing in the first place. And I'm happy to say that I haven't fallen off that path yet, even if I do sometimes forget what put me there in the first place. These stories may be something for me to explore and hone my own writing talents, but they also accomplish something else. They give the rest of you something to enjoy. They let you see a world that someone else imagined, or an alternate take on events that hasn't been encountered before. And I hope you all continue to enjoy this journey to the fullest extent. There will be bumps, there will be obstacles, but in the end it is the culmination of an adventure spanning a few years. Or the beginning of a new journey as with other stories that I am writing.**

 **So yeah, even if it is incredibly sappy, YOU are a big part of why I do this. The world of a person's imagination is limitless, so long as we don't ever give up or stop exploring our own thoughts. And there was one quote, from the very man the movie was made to honor that I think sums it up perfectly.**

 **"The noblest art is that of making others happy." -P.T. Barnum**


	38. Chapter 38

**First off, apologies for this being almost two days late. I had everything prepped and ready to go...and then completely lost track of time last night when I meant to look this over and post it. I blame my sudden renewed hook on Monster Hunter World drilling me into those last fights to get drops now that I've put ~70 hours into the game (and I don't even know how it's already that high, it feels like it should only be 25-30, maybe 40 hours at most at this rate).**

 **Either way, this chapter is unfortunately a little shorter - both due to one last stage set for the sake of building the battlefield for the next chapter, and also because inventory at work tomorrow has had the rest of this week busy making sure everything isn't a complete mess in terms of organization. Sorry for that. But I CAN promise that now that things are set, the next chapters will be back to their normal length. I'll see everyone here again in a couple weeks when things kick into high gear.**

* * *

Qrow and Ozpin calmly strode forward into the building that the mayor had pointed out. Instead of finding a woman pouring over instruments and medical charts however, they found only an empty office with only a few small supplies sitting on a desk.

"How much you wanna bet she already ran?" Qrow commented dryly as he took a quick swig from his flask. "Place looks deserted."

"To the untrained eye, yes," Ozpin replied without missing a beat as he walked over to the desk on one end of the room. "But you and I both know our fair share of keeping secrets and making contingencies in case anything was to happen. We simply need to look in the right place."

"Yeah, yeah. Secret switches and all that. But she still had to have some idea we were coming. Why would she stick around if she knows what we'll be asking?"

"Because she is still caught on both sides. She follows a man who believes that the next step for all of us is to evolve, rather than fight against the oncoming storm that awaits us all. There are always two paths for a person to take. But what happens when you are forever trapped at the crossroads with no clear idea of which path to take?" Both men suddenly turned as the sharp grating sound of metal came from another end of the office as a bookshelf slid on its own, a metal hatch becoming exposed as it slowly opened up from the wall. A moment later, a woman in a lab coat walked slowly out of the opening before it slide shut once again, her body turning to face the two visitors.

"Whoever said I was still at the crossroads?"

"Is it just me, or have things cleaned up a little too easily since we were here last?" Emerald commented to Neo as they passed by a few kids playing within the town borders. "It just feels…I don't know…too calm."

"Emerald, you spent a good amount of time following Cinder's orders and I had to deal with a demon version of myself trying to take over me when Beacon was attacked. I think "calm" is just something we're not used to after everything we've had to deal with."

"I know. But it still doesn't feel right."

"Look, I…" Her voice trailed off as the two rounded a corner to see a man hunched over in pain by a set of benches. They quickly looked at each other with alarm before rushing over to see what the problem was. Neo reached out to gently place a hand on the man's shaking shoulder, only for his body to jerk away out of surprise as he turned to face the newcomers.

"Wh…argh…who are you two?" The man asked with a confused look mixed with pain as he held a hand tightly to his chest. Sweat could be seen beading on his forehead while his other hand clenched and unclenched sporadically. "Wait…I've seen your faces before…you're the ones that fought off those Grimm a while back…what are you doing here?"

"A friend of ours went missing, and we're here trying to find some answers. There's nothing wrong." Neo tried to calm the man down, though his grunts and frustrated looks showed his evident disbelief in her claims.

"Like hell nothing's wrong…look at me…I'm a mess…" A pained groan echoed from his throat as he took struggling breaths. "I'm supposed to go and see the doctor…to get my medicine for whatever the hell's wrong with me…but she said she's too busy to help anyone today…" The man turned to the side to spit harshly, a thin trail of blood flying from his mouth as it came to fall on the snow nearby. "And I'm not the only one that needs medicine…over a dozen of us are sick with the same damn symptoms…and it all started not long after you lot left…your friend wasn't showing symptoms like these…was he?"

Both girls shook their heads as they continued to look worriedly at the state the man was in. Neither knew exactly what was going on, but given the timing of things and the mention of the doctor they had come to investigate…it didn't look good.

"Sir, I know it might be tough, but where are the others that are sick like you?" Neo asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder once more.

"Probably at home right now since none of us are…in any sort of condition to hunt or protect the town. The ones that are healthy actually get to leave town and do work…the lucky bastards…"

"How many are still here to watch over the town in case anything happens?" Emerald asked after the man finished to take a few ragged breaths.

"Just a handful. No one in particular is exactly skilled…but they have enough practice to fight off a few Grimm if the going gets tough. This town was never hugely populated after all…Too many people and the risk of drawing Grimm goes up."

"But that doesn't make sense," Neo commented quietly to Emerald as she turned to whisper a few words to her before turning back to face the man. "Who said that the Grimm would be less likely drawn if there were fewer of you?"

"The doctor, obviously. She knows a thing or two about Grimm…aside from her medical work. It was one of the main reasons…she asked to work out here a number of years back…"

"We'll go and get her, I promise. Just hold on a little longer." Emerald stated confidently as she gripped the man's shoulder briefly before turning to stand up and march back in the direction of the building that the doctor was supposedly working in.

"Emerald, what are you doing?!" Neo whispered harshly as she struggled to catch up with the taller girl. "You heard what Qrow and Ozpin said. They had things covered with the questioning; we're supposed to watch over the town!"

"Yeah, well, something tells me it's all gone to shit already." Emerald snapped back without hesitating, her eyes focused forward as she swiftly drew one her weapons from her belt as they neared the house. As the two neared the entrance, her other hand reached up as it neared the handle for the door.

"Emerald, you can't-" Her voice was rapidly cut off as a large blast originated from inside the building, blowing a massive hole in one of the walls with a smashing of debris. Both of them moved their arms to shield their eyes from the sudden outpouring of dust and smoke before quickly moving to retrieve their remaining weapons with looks of surprise.

A moment later, a thin figure with a billowing white coat leapt from the opening before sprinting off into the distance, a pair of small bracelets humming at her wrists as they glowed a bright orange. Not long after, Qrow bounded from the building before following in pursuit with his own weapon drawn, one arm swinging back before throwing the weapon towards the fleeing woman as it shifted into its scythe form. Her head turned to look behind her only for her footing to slip on the snow and ice as she barely managed to avoid the path of the weapon before it came to a halt buried within the terrain a few feet away. Doctor Amala turned with a look of faux-hurt as she placed a hand on her chest.

"I can't believe you would attack a poor, defenseless woman like that! How would the people feel if their own defenders went about attacking innocent people without any sense?"

Qrow was unfazed as he strode towards the woman and his weapon. "You know damn well you aren't defenseless. As for the people here, you likely never gave two shits about their well-being after everything you and the people you worked with did. You turned those same innocent people into slaves and monsters just to satisfy some twisted curiosity!"

"Oh, and you're so perfect, working for someone like Ozpin after every mistake he's made!" Amala raised an arm in the air as one of the bracelets on her wrist shifted into a sort of gauntlet on her hand. Seconds later, a bright set of red runes lit up along the palm of the contraption before a blast of fire few from her hand and in Qrow's direction. Qrow dodged to the side as the fireball sailed for a while before landing in the snow and ice with a crash, leaving a round circle of smoking grass and dirt where there was once frozen ice and snow.

"Did I ever say I was perfect? A lot of people have to make bad choices to get things done, and I'm no exception. Neither is Oz. Just knock it off with your stall tactics already so we can get this over with."

"I mean…I could." Amala replied with a sinister grin as she reached with her other hand into one of the pockets of her lab coat. From within, she pulled out some sort of remote, with only one button on its surface. "Or we could make things more…exciting."

"Don't you dare! These people didn't do anything to you!"

"But you said it yourself, Qrow. Why would I give a damn about them?"

With that, her thumb pressed down on the button, a light beeping sound echoing from the device for a few seconds before it went silent. That silence didn't last for long however. Not as the screams of a dozen human beings echoed from within multiple buildings at once. That and the loud screaming of the man that Neo and Emerald had just spoken to as they both turned to witness his body collapse to the side of the bench as it writhed on the ground for a short while. But just as quickly as it had begun…the screaming and writhing stopped. Suddenly the man's body shambled to its feet as a sickly black sludge started to fall from its mouth. As a pair of gleaming white claws and fangs protruded from his fingers and mouth.

What was the most alarming however…were the bright ruby red eyes now staring back at them.


	39. Chapter 39

"Comfortable?"

Frost groggily moved his head in the direction of the voice coming from nearby. He blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision as the man responsible for his parent's death came into view. A fire burned in his chest as he glared at the man whose only goal was a so-called "evolution".

"I'm strapped to a table with a demon spawn slowly clawing its way through my mind while the people I care about are fighting a war against the creator of the Grimm. What do you think, asshole?"

The man smiled. "Then everything is right on schedule. Just a little longer now and there will be enough sustenance for the Grimm to swallow your consciousness and assume total control. Your existence will cease, and the next phase of my plan will commence."

"You know it won't end that way." Frost began as he continued to glare daggers. "They will find you, and they WILL stop you. Even if I turn, that won't stop them from preventing whatever fucked up world domination plan you have in mind."

"I would hardly call it world domination when both humanity and the Grimm have lived on this world for centuries. It's simply the stronger eliminating the weak; natural selection at its best."

"Even if to get there you use artificial ways to transform humanity? How is that natural?"

"Every step in the course of history requires a push. I'm simply acting as the catalyst for something greater. Why should I expect a mere child to understand the way the world works? Besides, I hardly believe your "friends" will prove of any help to you when they're too busy fighting to save their own as we speak."

"What are you babbling about now, you lunatic?"

"I believe there was a quaint little village near Atlas that you stopped by some time ago. Even managed to fight off a new species of Grimm if I recall. But did you ever consider how far my reach must be for my plan to truly come to fruition?"

"No…" Frost's eyes went wide as the man's smile only seemed to grow in intensity.

"I believe you even met one of my associates. One Miss Amalie if I recall?" He chuckled darkly for a moment before continuing. "Though that is hardly her real name. Even if it is barely a difference, she took on the moniker of Amala when she "promised" to give them my whereabouts years ago in exchange for amnesty. Amazing how useful a Semblance that allows her to control her heart functions for a moment works to fool a lie detector. How else would I have known about your existence if not for her sending me a sample of your blood?"

Frost's eyes turned towards the hand that he remembered burning when he had grasped Amala's hand when they had met her. "That feeling…is she...?"

"Like you? In a way." The man turned to gaze over the laboratory around them as he went on. "However her ability was not quite what I sought in terms of a long term solution to properly infusing Grimm with every person healthy enough to make the transition. I needed something more. Something that would allow the properties of the Grimm to slowly merge with the existing host rather than burn it up from the inside-out. Her talents have allowed her particular inhabitant to last much longer than other test subjects, but that will only last so long. No…" He turned back to face Frost with an eager look in his eyes.

"What I've always needed to finish my research...is you."

* * *

"What are we supposed to do?!" Emerald called out as she deflected a swipe from another villager-turned-Grimm.

"I don't know!" Neo called back as she parried one person's arm with her parasol before leaping back as another dove at her place in the snow. "These are still innocent people! We can't kill them!"

"But what are we supposed to do if we knock them out, if that's even possible anymore?!" Emerald asked loudly as a loud crashing sound signified another person bursting out of their home, this time with skeletal wings sprouting from their back as they limped forward a few steps. "They aren't the same people anymore!"

"Of course they are! Just because they have something inside of them it doesn't stop them from being the people they were before!" Neo snapped back as she swung her weapon across the back of one person's head, causing them to snap forward and slump into the snow for a few seconds only to rise up once again without any sign of slowing.

"Is that truly what you believe, girl?" Amala asked as she dodged an attack from Qrow while the two fought nearby. "Or is that just the foolish delusions of someone with no more options trying to grasp at straws for some hope of a light at the end of the tunnel?"

"You should pay more attention to the person you're actually fighting with." Qrow stated calmly as Amala narrowly dodged a swipe of his blade, a few strands of hair falling to the snow as she stumbled backwards a few steps.

"I'm simply trying to enlighten the girl as to how silly her view of things are. These people stopped being human when I planted the dormant Grimm in their blood. All it took was a matter of time to let them build strength off of their own bodies before we used them as fodder in the greater battle to come. They would never last after the initial battle anyways. Not even Ozpin's abilities to tamper with time would allow him to remove the alterations to their bodies. It's been far too long for a simple rewinding of the clock to turn them back into the weak flesh they were before."

"So why capture young Frost, in that case?" Ozpin stated as he appeared behind Amala before striking at her with his cane with a flurry of blows.

Amala snarled as she stumbled back from Ozpin's sudden attack before moving in a way that she could keep both Qrow and Ozpin in her field of view, though the former seemed far less interested in actually attacking her now that Ozpin had joined the fray. "Why should it matter to you, old man? He already has what he wants and the boy will allow our plans to come full circle to what we tried to do years ago."

"Still as foolish as when you were starting out under his tutelage, then. A pity." Ozpin shook his head sadly as he simply stood with his cane planted in the ground in front of him. "Did you ever consider that this whole time, you have been nothing but a simply tool for him to use in his own schemes?"

"I am one of his most trusted scientists! I fooled all of you when I made you believe that I was actually on your side!"

"Did you?" Qrow pondered aloud as he casually blocked an attack from one of the transformed villagers before kicking them away where they crashed into the side of a building, their body stuck for at least a few moments as they struggled to remove themselves from the hole they'd been lodged in. "We always knew about your ability to alter your heartbeat and what it could allow you to do. Why do you think we knew exactly where to find you? Or why a pair of "retired Huntsmen" just so happened to move into this town around the time you did?"

"Retired huntsmen…" Neo looked to Emerald as both of them realized what that meant. "He doesn't mean…"

"I always had some suspicions. But did you really think I cared about something like that when I agreed to be part of something better?"

"You should have thought about it more when you brought those Grimm here and ended up killing the people that were watching you." Ozpin stated as he continued to calmly speak to Amala. "Had they not been killed in your haste to test these new creatures, then we would have hardly thought to pay you a visit at this point in time. As it stands, your pursuit of progress still continues to blind you to the consequences of your actions."

"Mankind will die in the end if we do nothing to make ourselves stand taller than the Grimm! How can you still not understand that after everything you have witnessed?!"

"Oz…" Qrow started with a warning tone at a volume that only he and Ozpin could hear.

"It will be fine, Qrow." Ozpin stated as he raised a hand to calm the man beside him. "It's been just about long enough anyways."

"Long enough for what, you old fool?"

"Just some extra precautions we put in place."

As Ozpin stated this, the sound of engines could be heard in the distance as the wind began to shift somewhat. Heads turned to take a brief glimpse when they weren't busy blocking the unorganized attacks of mutated people to see the forms of airships begin to appear over the horizon, coming from the direction of Atlas.

"Atlas' tin soldiers? That's your backup?" Amala scoffed at the oncoming ships. "They'll hardly pose a threat to my plans."

Ozpin smiled. "Not alone they won't. But the people commanding them will."

"Wait, wha-" Her words were rapidly cut off as a series of glyphs appeared under her before she was roughly hoisted off of the ground and into the path of an oncoming fireball. The blaze crashed into her, sending her body flying back towards her office as she flew through the previously created hole and landed inside with a cloud of snow and debris that followed.

The airships landed shortly thereafter as soldiers, both human and robot alike, managed to pin and subdue the transformed humans despite their added strength and armaments. One slightly larger ship landed moments later as a pair of individuals walked down its ramp while the mutated people were brought aboard to be transported back to the city to attempt to have the beasts removed from their bodies.

"Took the two of you long enough, don't you think?" Qrow asked nonchalantly as Winter and Ironwood joined their group.

"Must every encounter with you be this trying, Qrow?" Winter snapped as she placed a hand to her forehead out of exasperation.

"Only until it stops being fun to mess with you."

"Winter, Qrow. Save it for when we actually have EVERYONE under arrest." Ironwood commanded sternly. "There is still the matter of arresting Doctor Amala so that we can determine where their main base of operations is located."

"Of course, General. Rig-"

"Winter, stop. I am no longer the commander of Atlas' forces. You are. I am simply an advisor at this time whenever I am not busy aiding Ozpin and Qrow with their own plans."

"Yes…Ironwood."

Qrow shrugged his shoulders before taking a swig from his flask. "It's a start, I guess."

"Uncle Qrow!" A perky voice called out as the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps sounded from nearby.

"What's up, kiddo?" Qrow asked as he turned to face the others as they returned from the outskirts of town.

"We did what you asked and kept any Grimm from reaching town, but then they just disappeared a little while ago! What happened?" All eyes looked with curiosity at Qrow just as he flashed a look of concern to Ozpin.

"Ruby." Qrow asked the young girl with a forced tone as he reached down to grasp her shoulders tightly. "What EXACTLY happened when they disappeared?"

"They just dissolved into clouds of snow before drifting away. Why?"

"Did you ever see anything that looked like black crystals inside of them?"

A chorus of shaking heads were his only answer. The man turned with a swear as he ran a hand roughly through his hair. Heads tilted out of curiosity as he started pacing back and forth before walking over to Ozpin.

"You know what this likely means, right?"

Ozpin nodded slowly. "I do, unfortunately. But our main objective still stands. Thanks to your distraction, I was able to retrieve the location of their main base from her files while she was busy avoiding your attacks."

"Oz, you realize what this means since she focused entirely on avoiding my attacks instead of fighting back. She was distracted."

"By what? We saw you two fighting. What could have distracted her?" Emerald asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Controlling the Grimm that the rest of you were holding off. Why do you think they just disappeared like they did? She was bringing them here."

"I think we'd seen clouds of snow randomly flying through the air." Yang stated with a disbelieving tone as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Even when it's already snowing?"

"I mean…maybe?" The blonde shrugged her shoulders without any other sort of answer.

"No. We need to move and go get the other kid back before they finish whatever scheme they have going on. Now that we know where we're going, we can grab one of these airships and le-"

Suddenly, a massive sound of crunching echoed from within the office that Amala had been propelled into previously. Moments later, the entire structure burst apart with a hail of debris as a humanoid figure the size of an airship extracted itself from its remains. At first glance, it looked much like a woman, however the ridges of pure-white bones protruding from its arms, legs, and torso, as well as the icy-blue wings coiled at its back proved it was anything but human. Glowing red eyes stared down at them as a toothy smile formed on the beast's skeletal face.

" **WhO sAiD anY Of yOu couLd LEavE?** " A voice that sounded much like Amala's, albeit far more demonic, echoed from the creature's mouth.

"So this is how far you have chosen to fall, is it Amala?" Ozpin calmly asked as he gazed up at what used to be the scientist with an almost pitying expression.

" **I wOulD hArdlY CaLl tHis falLiNg wHen I aM nOw morE poWErfUl thAn anY oF yoU!** " The monster screeched back as its body sent debris and snow flying as it shifted its mass slightly amongst the rubble.

"Oz, you remember our plan! Take the kids and go!" Qrow yelled over the noise of Amala's mutated body extricating itself from the smashed building.

"What?!" Yang yelled back as her eyes flashed red out of panic. "We aren't leaving you here!"

"There's no other choice! We don't know if she sent off a warning before showing herself, they could already be moving as we speak! We can't afford to waste time and let them slip through our fingers! Now, go!"

" **NoBodY sAid yOu couLd LEavE yEt!** " Amala's mutated voice echoed across the clearing as it turned its head towards one of the airships currently sitting in the open courtyard that the villagers were sitting safely aboard. " **wHy doN't wE gEt riD Of soMe oF thESe toYs?** "

Seconds later, a blast of snow and ice launched from Amala's open maw, decimating the ship in an instant with a massive crunching noise. All of those not currently standing poised in front of her reeled back in shock at the sight of such damage caused in mere moments.

"The...the villagers...she's killing them..." Ruby voiced meekly as everyone stood watching in shock and awe at the wreckage now sitting in the snow. "She killed them in an instant...when they didn't even do anything..."

"Children, we must go." Ozpin commanded sternly as he faced the group that now looked back and forth between him and the wreck with hesitation etched across their faces. "Frost is still in their captivity, and like Qrow says, we don't know how much time we have before they elude our capture once again."

"That doesn't matter right now." Heads turned with surprise at the sound of Neo's voice as she stood with a look of conviction and her weapon drawn and primed. "Frost can handle himself, and there's no way I'm letting her do this after everything these people have gone through. He made the choice between me and the intel on Torchwick to do what was more important by making sure he stayed behind bars. And I can't just go and selfishly rescue him while these people are slaughtered by a madwoman. I'm staying."

"So am I." Emerald stated as she took up a position beside Neo with a similar look in her eyes. "I stood by in silence as Beacon fell to Cinder and the White Fang. I'll be damned if I let this place burn, too." The others slowly joined the two after giving each silent looks before nodding and turning to face Ozpin with a fire burning in their eyes. Some more literally than others.

"If you do this, there is no guarantee that we will be able to catch them before they move to a different location. Are you absolutely sure of this?" Ozpin gave them all a look much like if he were the headmaster at Beacon once again. "We won't be able to get away once we get directly involved in the battle."

"We know." Neo replied as a smirk grew on her face. "But that's not stopping us from doing what's right."

"Very well." Ozpin nodded with a straight look on his face before turning back to face the monster currently swiping at the other fighters, sending a few poor soldiers from Atlas flying into the distance with screams of pain and despair. "Watch each others backs and do not falter. This is nothing like anything you have trained for at Beacon or otherwise. We are facing a Grimm with the intelligence of a human being. Two beings, fragmented and molded into one mass of destruction and fear."

"Any mistake you make...could very well be your last."

* * *

 **Now, after a flew lighter chapters to set the stage, we finally reach one of the apex battles of the story. The end is slowly appearing over the horizon. But there are still a few obstacles on the way to the end. I appreciate all of you that have been with me on this journey, both from my first story, from the beginning of this one, and even those that have joined in more recent times. I hope it has been en exciting one, and I do not intend to disappoint on the final result. A story is defined by not only its beginning or main plot, but also by the way it ends. But that is not now. For now, we get to see some epic Grimm butt-kicking, something that I haven't really shown off too many times in my writing. Here's hoping I do it justice.**


	40. Chapter 40

Frost's body was stiff as a board as he continued to remain in his current predicament. Even when his eyelids had fallen heavy from exhaustion and he'd been able to catch a short amount of rest, he would always wake to being strapped to the same surface as he had been when he first awoke in this place. As time continued to drag on, his body also began to feel more and more lethargic as the constant exposure to different drugs and gases took its toll on his body. He could tell at least that a small portion of his Aura and Semblance remained, though not enough to stage some sort of escape as the man holding him prisoner pointed out.

He had said something about needing at least a portion of his abilities still active to all Grimm to finish its transition into its position of control, but not enough that they would have to worry about a potential breach in the containment. Beyond that, Frost couldn't remember much as his mind became fuzzier and fuzzier in terms of coherent thought.

At least when he wasn't unconscious.

As such, that was where he currently presided as his body had needed a short time to rest at that moment. So here he sat, silently awaiting the next appearance of his doppelganger to taunt him and try to break his spirit like it had tried to do numerous times before.

" **You will break eventually. You do realize that, right?** " His sinister co-inhabitant remarked as it knelt in front of him while he simply sat there, his head resting on his knees as he remained silent. " **And even if you don't, it's not like that will stop what's coming. You can feel it just as much as I can. Your final vestiges of strength are all that's stopping me from taking full control and doing whatever I wish with this form. Why continue to struggle if the end is inevitable?** "

"…" Frost continued to remain silent after they creature finished speaking, his focus remaining on the dark abyss of his mind instead of the being trying to beat him down even further than he already was.

" **Or are you already broken? Is that what this is? If so, then I guess it won't be much longer now until the process is finished and I have what I need at last.** "

Despite his silence, however, Frost was hardly done fighting. He just knew that words weren't going to make a difference anymore. His eyes trailed over to one of his hands as it sat wrapped around his legs in his curled up position. A very faint glimmer of light flashed near the tips of one of his fingers, unbeknownst to the creature already claiming victory in front of him.

All he needed was the strength to do it.

* * *

"Look out!"

Neo and Emerald barely dodged the swipe of a sharp, jagged claw as a pair of Grimm leapt from within Amala's colossal form and into their midst. The sudden noise of a gunshot echoing from the chamber of Neo's weapon silenced one of the beasts in a burst of flame even as Emerald decapitated the other with a quick slash from her own weapons.

The fight had been going on like this for a little while now. As all of them had taken up stances to engage the massive Frostwolf (as they'd now taken to calling them) it's body had rippled suddenly, releasing a large cluster of Grimm much like what Neo and Emerald had fought when they had first visited the village back when they'd first arrived on the continent. And much like that time, they're movements were far more coordinated than the average Grimm. Unfortunately, they were also just as difficult to properly kill as each form they destroyed simply returned to Amala's body only to be replaced by more of them.

"How are we even supposed to beat these things if they just keep coming back?!" Yang called out over the din of battle.

"We need to be able to get at the leader!" Neo called back even as she deflected another monster with a quick movement of her parasol. "If we can expose her weak points then we can bring her down!"

"And how are we supposed to do that when she just keeps spawning more of them?!"

"I don't know! They didn't do this the last time we fought them!"

"Well that's just great!" Weiss remarked as she suspended a few of the beasts in the air with her Glyphs as Blake and Ruby both took shots at their vulnerable bodies, their forms disintegrating within seconds before floating back to their leader.

"I never said it was an easy plan! We're all a little distracted here!"

As Neo said that, a larger Alpha wolf went sailing by due to a different series of Glyphs created by Winter. Its body went careening into a large grouping of its brethren before another Glyph, this time red in colour, formed due to Weiss' quick thinking and exploded the monsters in a flash of fiery light. Meanwhile Ozpin and Ironwood, despite their more simple looking weapons, were easily dispatching other monsters with well-placed strikes and shots as more of the creatures set themselves upon the two men. Qrow, however, had chosen a farther away position to engage the beasts, to which every time someone neared his position he would call out to them to get back to the others as he casually dispatched more of the monsters. But despite their best efforts, nothing seemed to be slowing down the oncoming tide of monsters that stemmed from Amala's mutated form.

" **GetTinG tIreD yEt, hEroES?** " Her warbled voice echoed over them as she stood menacingly in the distance, though she had yet to actually make a move as her spawn continued to do the work for her. " **SoOn alL oF yoU wILl bE tOo wEAk to fIGhT baCk And tHeN yoU wiLL fAIl!** "

"God, would she just shut up!" Emerald shouted out of exasperation as she took out another Grimm with a quick round of bullets from her guns. "It's bad enough that she's just standing there, but is the taunting really necessary?"

"Says the girl that uses illusions to throw off what people actually see going on." Yang commented from nearby as she blasted one of the beasts into oblivion.

"Yeah, yeah. Pot calling the kettle black and all that. But you have to admit it's getting ridiculous."

"Oh, absolutely. On your 8." Emerald barely looked as her weapons changed into their bladed form and slammed into the beast's torso without a moment's hesitation.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Why couldn't you two be like this before?!" Weiss gave the two of them an exasperated look as they casually called out to each other like they had been fighting alongside the other for years.

"Weiss, we're in the middle of a fight for our lives." Yang stated with a matter-of-fact tone. "Some things HAVE to take a back seat when that happens."

"What she said."

"Then why don't you two try using some of that supposed teamwork to do something then!"

"Against this many things? Yeah, right." Emerald scoffed as she motioned all around them. "Plus, I don't even know if my Semblance even works on Grimm. If it does, it's never obvious."

"I meant on the one leading them!" Weiss practically screeched whilst simultaneously stabbing a wolf in the chest as it came sailing towards her due to being knocked over from Nora's hammer.

"Oh." Both girls responded before turning to look at one another.

"Think it'll work?" Yang asked with a thoughtful look.

"Maybe?" Emerald stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "She's still part human after all, so I _might_ be able to do something. But we'd likely need to get closer for it to stand a chance. There's too much distance that she's keeping for it to likely have any effect."

Yang smirked as her eyes flashed red in an instant. "I think I can handle that."

* * *

"Sir! We've just received a message from one of our outposts!" Frost overheard one of the scientists shout as the man leading the facility turned to face the man that had just spoken. Silence filled the air as the two seemed to just look at each other for a moment.

"And?"

"Sorry, sir. I just wasn't sure if you were going to say anything."

"If I've told you fools once, I've told you a thousand times. Unless I feel like butting in, you tell me exactly what is going on if something comes in from one of our bases! Which one was it?"

"It was the snow base, sir. The one Dr. Amala is stationed at."

The man's eyes narrowed as the words sunk in. "And what did it say."

"It didn't mention much. It seems like it was typed out in a hurry and almost seems to have been interrupted at the end due to some errors in the text. I can't tell what-"

"What. Did. It. Say." The man's tone turned dark as he practically hissed out the words.

The scientist gulped for a moment before turning back to his screen. "They've come. Our motions are potentially at risk. I have taken the sample and will attempt to hold them off. Set safety measures to threat level Goliath. I'm…and then it just turns into a mess of numbers and letters. Sir, what does it mean?"

The man began to pace roughly back and forth within Frost's field of view. A smirk came upon the young man's face as he realized what it likely meant given the name of the person at said base.

"It means that the cavalry is on its way. And your entire plan is about to go up in smoke. That's what it means."

The man whirled to face Frost with a wild look in his eyes. "I would hardly start celebrating, boy. If anything this means that you are about to endure much more suffering so that our plans will not be delayed by the meddling of Ozpin and his cohorts. I will NOT see this plan fall apart again! Not after how many years I've put into making sure everything is complete!"

"It's a bit late for that, don't you think?" Frost attempted to bluff the man to see how much he would crack. He knew that while Ozpin and the others arriving in Atlas was potentially a good thing, there was no telling how much time there was left before things took a turn for the worse. Especially since he still had no idea where he was actually being kept prisoner on Remnant.

"It's never too late for one last stand, child. Even your parents understood that, despite their foolishness in revealing my original intentions so many years ago." The man turned towards a different scientist as he barked out orders. "Set the dosage to three times the normal amount. Our timetable just got accelerated."

"But sir, if we do that there's no telling what it might do to the host body! It's too risky and-" The man's words were rapidly cut off as the doctors arm suddenly lashed out and pinned the scientist by the neck to the wall. Frost's eyes widened in shock as what should have been a normal arm was instead black and spindly, with odd holes littering its length. His eyes then turned to the man's face, whose eyes were now the telltale black and red that symbolized a Grimm residing within him.

"Did I say I wanted your negativity? I said to increase his dosage, and that means you increase his FUCKING DOSAGE! Do I make myself clear?!" The man's gaze scanned over the scientists in the room before another person in a lab coat quickly moved to a panel off to the side of Frost's containment, out of his line of sight. "That's better. Now," his gaze returned to the man that had tried warning him earlier. "I believe the next thing on the agenda is your lack of faith in what we are trying to achieve here."

The scientist could only struggle as he was lifted away from the wall and pulled over to be hoisted just in front of the man that held Frost prisoner. His face was beginning to change colour due to a lack of oxygen and his limbs flailed back in forth as he struggled within the iron grip of the Grimm appendage.

"You do recall why we agreed to this venture in the first place, do you not?" The man weakly nodded as their leader continued. "Our people are dying and we need some way to fight back the beasts that threaten our existence every day. When we were handed an olive branch by the Queen of the Grimm herself, we finally saw a chance for humans and Faunus alike to not only survive, but become more like the other in some capacity. And then those in positions in power above us believed that what we were doing was treasonous, even if it meant sacrificing a few measly lives in the efforts to save countless others. They labeled us villains and criminals for doing what needed to be done! And yet you stand here and lecture me about the risks?" His eyes turned to gaze at his own limb that held the man suspended in the air as he released his hold and the man collapsed at his breath as he gasped for breath.

"Whether it was luck or providence, I have been the only person to survive the process for an extended period of time. Every other person that has tried has died at some point after being administered with the serum that begins the process. But now, with the advancements in science that also allow for the transference of Aura from one person to another and by extension their talents, we finally have a way to transfer the abilities of someone able to survive the process to another. We simply need to finish the process with this boy, and we will have our perfect specimen to achieve our goal."

Suddenly, the arm lashed out and grasped the man's neck once more. Instead of hoisting him up though, his grip simply began to tighten more and more around the struggling scientist's neck until a cracking sound echoed throughout the room as his body went limp.

"However, there is no place for hesitation or doubt in this project."

His eyes turned to point a sinister grin at Frost's prone form. Frost suddenly began to feel faint once more as his chamber began to be filled with more gas than usual compared to previous times that he had been knocked unconscious. He was barely able to make out the man's words as darkness overtook him once more.

"Not when we're this close. The world WILL remember the name of Dr. Talon Asrani, the man who saved mankind."

* * *

 **First off, I know this is another cliffhanger and I do apologize for that. I originally had intended to add on a little more to either the stuff in the lab or to the fight before posting this today, but I've either had to deal with being half-deaf in one ear or having a headache that feels like my skull wants to crack open like the apocalypse. Needless to say, I'm sorry this chapter doesn't have more in it, but I just can't pull more out of me at this point in time and I hate posting these late now that I'm on a rather consistent routine with them. I will promise that the next one won't leave quite as much to be desired, though. Until next time, I think I need to go get a little extra rest to try and get rid of...whatever the heck I picked up.**


	41. Chapter 41

Embers licked the air as Yang charged through the Grimm, explosions going off in her wake as she blazed a path through the creatures. This didn't clear out all of them in her path however, as a pair of Beowolves pounced towards her, their bodies having been protected by the blasts by that of some of their brethren. Their attack didn't last long though, as they were buffeted with a hail of bullets from Emerald's weapons before they disintegrated and fell to the same fate as their comrades.

Meanwhile, the others continued to keep the Grimm off of each other in any way they could, from Glyphs knocking the monsters to and fro, to large pink-clouded explosions and the cacophonous noise of a sniper rifle in action. Had there been fewer of them fighting, this battle might have posed a larger risk given the sheer number of creatures spawning from Amala's body, but between the practiced students and the experienced veterans the Grimm didn't stand a chance at truly posing any real threat.

That was, until Amala began to move once again.

"ThAt's eNouGH plAyINg aRounD wITh mY pETs, woULdN't yOu aLL Say?" Her warbled tone echoed through the clearing as she swung a massive left hook towards some of the older fighters. The looming shadow that signaled the oncoming attack was easily enough to allow them time to dodge, however the shockwave it created when it struck the surface of the ground was enough to knock all of them a little off balance. "I waNTeD tO SEe hOW tHEy woUlD fARe, bUT iT seeMS I hAVe tO TaKE cARe Of ThIS MYsElF!"

"Yang! Get back from that thing!" Ruby called out in fear as her sister continued to charge towards the behemoth, her hair ablaze and trailing slight flickers of fire as she moved closer to her target. Her cry went unheeded as her sister continued to charge forward without slowing, even as Amala's form turned to face the oncoming challenger.

"ThIS iS ThE beST yOU fOoLS cAn mANagE aGaiNSt mE?! ONe gIRl?!" The massive creature then began to swing one of its claws towards Yang, even as the blonde cocked back one of her gauntlets to release a salvo of fire into the air and towards the being's face. Unbeknownst to everyone else, it was at that moment that Emerald activated her Semblance on Amala, praying that it would work, to make it appear that there were suddenly many more fireballs heading her way than the singular one actually headed for her. Unsure of whether or not it would work, the green-haired girl watched with baited breath, hoping that it had managed to affect the human part of Amala that still remained within the monster.

* * *

" **You realize know what this finally means, right?** " The Grimm spook with a sneer as it watched Frost pant on the ground in front of it. The boy's body was wet with sweat as he knelt on the ground, gasping for air as though he was unable to breath. " **The last of the good doctor's medicine has taken effect, and I finally have the means to take over. Which means you are about to cease to exist and this body will be mine to use however I wish…But I think I'll keep you around, just on the brink of life and death to torture you more as I kill the people you so care about with your own two hands. Then I'll kill you, feeding off of the waves of anguish and despair that it will create in your final moments. How does that sound?** "

"Go…to hell…" Frost's voice rasped out as he slowly angled his head up to face the creature. "This…isn't…your body…"

" **Not at this moment, but it will be soon. I just want to keep you around a little longer to feed off of you before I make this my permanent one-man residence. Give me a bit of time to settle before finally kicking you out. I'm sure you appreciate me being at least somewhat lenient in that regard.** "

"You…won't…win…the others…will stop...you…"

" **Even when they see the face of the person they've been trying so hard to rescue strapped to a table looking defeated and weak? They won't think twice about freeing you, and then I will plunge these hands right into their chests and crush their pathetic human hearts before they have a chance to blink. That's all I'll need to break you once and for all and then exact the revenge on humankind that I've been seeking for so many years.** "

"You…didn't even…know what revenge was…until you inhabited a…human body…"

" **And now that I have, it's enlightened me to just how much our kind have been missing out on! All this time, we've simply been seeking out random destruction and death without being able to see the bigger picture! As soon as we kill off the fragments of your civilization, we would have no food, no means to survive without anything to generate fear and despair for us to harvest! With these new forms, we can continue to exist through alternate means, without fear of starving or dying slowly as we lose our purpose to exist! We will become the new rulers of this land! And nothing will get in our way!** "

As the creature within him continued to monologue as it held its arms wide and stared into the dark abyss above them, Frost glanced over to his hand as a small trickle of energy flickered between two of his fingers. A whisper left his throat, quiet enough that even he barely heard his own words spoken aloud, much less the monster in front of him.

"That's…what you think…asshole…"

* * *

Everyone watched with shock as the monster suddenly went from swinging in Yang's direction to bringing both of its arms up in a defensive posture as the long fireball collided with its form. On the spot that it had landed on one of the arms, a large pocket of steam and black mist rose from the hole that now existed along its surface, though that didn't last long as the hole noticeably began to repair itself at a slow pace.

"HOW DARE YOU LAY A FINGER ON ME!" Amala's voice screeched across the area as her mass shifted backwards, creating a small amount of distance between her previous position and her new one. "I AM A QUEEN COMPARED TO YOU ANTS! YOU SHOULD BE BOWING THE KNEE AT MY SUPERIORITY! AND YET YOU ATTEMPT TO HARM ME AND MY CHILDREN AS THOUGH YOU STAND A CHANCE! NO MORE! THIS ENDS NOW!"

Suddenly, the air began to swirl as the monster's head arched back and a the sound of rushing wind filled the air. Everyone tried to move as the vacuum of air threatened to suck them up, however none of them could seem to pull away from the strong winds trying to pull them up from the ground. Chunks of buildings and debris began to lift from the ground as random object started to fly into the gaping maw of the gigantic Grimm. And the closer they were to Amala, the faster they seemed to lift up and towards her.

This also included Yang as she was easily the closest person to the monster as he body began to lift into the air despite her best efforts to stay grounded. Even pushing out constant blasts from her gauntlets in the hopes that the recoil would help keep her away from the threat, her body still slowly neared Amala's mouth as the winds raged on.

"Somebody help her!" Blake's voice could barely be heard as the howling winds blew all other noises about as though they were nothing.

"I'm on it!" Nora called back as she switched Magnhild from its signature hammer-form into its launcher design as she unleashed a barrage of grenades into the air. Due to their size, the small projectiles were easily caught up in the wind and pulled towards the source of the vacuum.

Unfortunately for their massive opponent, that was exactly the point of the salvo.

With a loud bang, the grenades all detonated at once as soon as they collided with the inside of Amala's mouth, her body reeling back with an extended shriek as smoke and debris rained from her now shattered jaw. One couldn't help but wince at the sight of what was once a human-like jaw now shattered and broken, holes and gaps littering her mouth as she glared towards her attackers. Due to the magnitude of the blast, some holes even littered parts of her upper body as large pockets of ice and black mist trailed up from her body and into the air.

What stood out the most, was that from within one of the these holes closer to the centre of her chest, an oddly shaped black mass seemed to pulse and throb from within.

"There's the weak point!" Qrow called out as his sword shifted into its gun form, the blade sliding aside for a pair of gun barrels to come into view as he began to fire on the monster despite the distance. "Let her have it!"

The sound of transforming weapons filled the air as all of those capable of doing so changed their weapons into their ranged counterparts, the air suddenly filled with the smell of smoke and gunpowder even as fireballs, grenades, and other assorted attacks rained on Amala's form. However, due to her sheer size, Amala was easily able to raise her unbuttered arm in the way to block most of the oncoming attacks, her weak point safely protected for the time being as the ice continued to reform over the holes in her body even as smaller holes began to litter her arm in the process. With her other hand, she casually swung out and slapped Yang's body out of the air due to her still being somewhat suspended from the vacuum that had been going on earlier.

"Yang!" Ruby called out as she lowered her rifle in fear and began to sprint towards her fallen sister.

"Ruby! Get BACK!" Qrow yelled over to his niece even as she flew towards her sister in a flurry of rose petals.

"Yang! Are you okay?!" Ruby yelled to her sister as he came to a stop before the blonde who lay in a heap of snow and debris, a trail of blood trickling down her forehead while she lay apparently unconscious on the ground. "Yang!"

The blonde's eyes cracked open slowly as she carefully moved her head to face her yelling younger sister. "Hey, Rubes. You see the number of that bus?"

"Yang, this is no time for your stupid jokes! You just got hit really hard and don't look so good. Can you move?"

"A little, but it kind of hurts to do so. You should probably get back with the others though, don't want you to get hurt after all."

"Not with you lying here like this! She could kill you if she went after you again!"

"That's what I'm counting on."

"What?!"

"Ruby, seriously, you need to get back."

"Not without you, Yang!"

"Ruby, I can't blow her arm apart with my Semblance if you're standing right here!"

"Eh?!"

"What, you thought I let myself get close without having a backup plan? This was what I planned on doing in the first place...I just wasn't expecting the sudden wind tunnel she had going on a moment ago." The blonde sheepishly added as she scratched at her cheek with her robotic hand, which seemed to still be functioning properly.

"Oh."

"Why do you think Uncle Qrow didn't call out to me like he did you a moment ago? My fire can melt through most of this stuff, but if you even stumble for a moment your speed doesn't mean anything."

"But what if she hit you hard enough to kill you?"

"Ruby, I've been punched through support pillars for a road bridge and launched hundreds if not thousands of feet into the air from a turkey on a stick. I think I can handle a punch from a giant popsicle."

"…Alright, Yang," Ruby started as she slowly backed away from her sister and retrieved Crescent Rose. "But if you get killed I'll beat you up."

Yang smirked as she pulled herself up from the ground with a wince of pain. "Get going, little sis." With a flurry of rose petals, the younger girl rapidly departed the area as a large shadow came into view, a pair of beady red eyes facing Yang with disdain. The blonde's eyes flashed red in response as she smirked up at the monster's face. "Morning, Mama Bear. Mind if I warm things up a bit?"

With that, Yang unleashed a blast of fire upwards, engulfing a sizeable portion of her arms and face in flames. A long and loud agonizing scream filled the air as a massive cloud of steam and black mist filled the air as the arms on the monster began to disintegrate, leaving her weak point even more exposed than before. Within moments, gunfire and blasts of explosions rained themselves on the black mass within Amala's chest.

And just as quickly, that mass then exploded from within her form as the attacks shattered the black goop and Amala's form fell to the ground in a heap. Slowly, ice and black mist began to lift from the creatures massive bulk and drifted into the air as the creature began to disintegrate. In the end, Amala's body remained, though a pale face with black tendrils and black and red eyes now existed in place of the fair skin and green eyes she had before.

"I was…so close…" Her voice weakly trailed off as she lay limp on the ground within the outline of where her previous form had fallen as snow gently fell on her face. "I just…wanted to…live more…"

"Was it worth the price you paid, Miss Amala?" Ozpin's voice gently asked as the woman slowly turned her head to face him. "Was it worth turning yourself into a monster to meet those ends?"

"Absolutely…I just wish I'd had…more time…"

"You damned fool…" Qrow mumbled under his breath as he retrieved his flask, though he thought better of it and returned it to his hip a moment later, much to the surprise of most of those there.

"His cause…was worth it…"

"Even if it meant eternal servitude to a goddess that cared only for death and destruction?"

"No one is a saint, Ozpin…" Amala smiled from her position on the ground. "Least of all you…" And with that, she took her final breaths as her body also joined her previous form as it dissolved into ice and black mist and flew into the air, now lost amongst the winds.

"Alright, kids…" Qrow started as he drew the attention of those gathered. "Time to go finish this."

With determined expressions and readied weapons, everyone nodded as they all began to board one of the remaining airships while Winter and Ironwood climbed aboard the remaining ones to return to Atlas. This battle had ended…

But there was still one last fight before they could safely say it was over.

* * *

 **Not a whole lot to add this time around. I will be honest however in saying that we are slowly approaching the end of this story. Given the timeframe of my updates, it will still likely be close to a couple months if not more before we reach the finale. I hope that it doesn't end up feeling rushed as a result with what's to come around the corner, but I am also looking forward to it as I've been mentally preparing the final scenes and battles since practically the beginning of this story. So I hope that translates into a satisfying end. That aside, I will obviously see you all here again in a couple of weeks.**


	42. Chapter 42

Frost knew the moment he opened his eyes that he was no longer the one in control. His head turned, unbidden to his own thoughts or desires, as it watched one of his restrained hands clench and unclench in an almost experimental fashion. Then he turned to watch as his other hand did the same. As his vision returned to looking directly ahead of him, he could see the pleased expression on Dr. Asrani's face. From the moment he had heard the man utter his own name, Frost had wanted, more than anything, to make some sort of derogatory joke at the man's expense given the circumstances. Unfortunately, those very same circumstances had been what had prevented him from doing just that. It was likely for the best, as who knows what kind of tortures Frost might have been subjected to before the supposed experiment was completed.

And there it was; the first sign that his will had begun to break. Even in the face of danger, he had always liked to at least TRY to make some sort of crappy joke to try and lighten the atmosphere before getting into trouble. This monster inside of him really had done exactly as it wanted in demoralizing him and turning him into a husk of his former self. He only prayed that Neo and the others wouldn't see him like this.

That thought alone brought along a new rush of guilt and heartache as he recalled the last moments he had with the people he called friends and allies. The gentleness of Neo's kiss as she pulled him back from the brink of destruction only to be snatched away at the last instance by the Nevermore that had deposited him into Asrani's clutches. The sudden surge of hope he'd felt when he saw that she was still alive not long after he saw, and felt, the life drain out of her due to Adam Taurus. Normally thinking about the man caused him to feel nothing but rage at the thoughts of what he had done, both as the leader of the White Fang that attacked Vale and for what he had done to Neo. But at this moment, he couldn't feel like he even COULD feel hatred anymore. It was likely another side effect of the Grimm now controlling his body. It had already stripped him of his anger and rage, and was using the vestiges that remained of him to slowly drain him of all the hope and joy he had left by submitting him to despair by forcing him to watch as his own body did things against his wishes.

He could tell by the way that his mouth was moving as well as seeing the Doctor's mouth move as well that the two were likely having a conversation involving the transfer of control. But he barely cared to properly tune into it as the man reached over to flip a switch on the nearby console, releasing Frost's body from its prison as the creature inside him massage its new wrists from the uncomfortable pinching that the harness had done over time. Being suspended almost continuously for nearly an entire week was bound to be uncomfortable for anyone, after all.

As Frost felt his feet calmly carry his body out of the holding chamber, he had his doubts that in the moment to come he would even have a chance to try and break free of the control now exerted over himself. He knew that the moment he tried to do something the Grimm would realize it and try to counteract him.

And so, he waited. And hoped with what little strength he had left.

* * *

Tensions were high for nearly all of those on board as they waited for the airship to reach their next destination. They knew where they were going following Ozpin inputting the directions into the auto-navigation system built into the ships controls, but that wouldn't speed up the fact that it would take time to arrive. And so it was, that everyone prepared in their own way for what was likely to be another high stakes battle, much like Vale or the fight they had just left behind in the now ruined Atlesian village.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Ruby's gentle voice asked aloud to no one in particular.

"Who, the villagers?" Yang turned to face her younger sister with a confused look to which the redhead responded and Yang's face took on a more saddened look. "I'm…not sure. I hope they will."

"There's no telling what kind of procedure might be necessary to extract the Grimm from their bodies. It's impossible to tell whether or not the creatures are even able to be removed in the first place." Ozpin spoke from the front end of the ship. A gentle smile came upon his face as he looked at Ruby before continuing. "Rest assured, Miss Rose, that the scientists at Atlas will not rest until they can discern whether or not such a task will be able to be accomplished."

"But what if they can't be removed?" Ruby's look of genuine worry continued as she asked the former headmaster another question that was on many of their minds. "What happens then?"

"…You've all seen it first-hand already, but not everything has a fairy tale ending. Sometimes good people pass as we strive for a better future. I wish that weren't the case, but it is a sad fact of life."

"Yeah, well, life can go jump off a cliff for all I care." A few heads turned with looks of surprise to face Emerald as she finished speaking with venom lacing her voice. "I grew up on the streets and had to steal to be able to feed myself for a long time. I don't even remember my parents; I was alone for that long. Then I got roped up with Cinder and all of that crap before realizing just how bad things had gotten. If that's how life is, then I choose to ignore it and do my own thing. I'm not going to bend over and let life beat me up just because it says that's necessary."

"…I see that the time you've spent with your friends has taught you a valuable lesson, Emerald." Ozpin stated after regarding the girl for a few moments with an appraising smile. "After all, just because I said that life sometimes takes good things from us doesn't mean we should lie down and accept that fact. Even people such as those we presently face have chosen to defy life in favour of their own plans. It is simply a matter of what side you choose to be on that determines how things end for each of us. Regardless, those of you sitting here today are part of those that choose to defy fate and carve a path of their own for others to follow. You have each shown an immense amount of courage and mental fortitude for ones so young despite everything you have been forced to face." Ozpin's eyes began to scan the room as he regarded each person there. "Loved ones lost. Home's destroyed. Live's thrown into turmoil, each of you has forced your way through the struggles and become a better for it. That is what it means to be Huntsman. Even without finishing your proper studies all of you are, in your own ways, one step closer to being the protectors of humans and Faunus alike."

"Oz…we're here." Qrow's voice carried from the cockpit as the older man finished speaking to those currently residing in the main hold of the airship.

A sigh left Ozpin's mouth as he nodded in understanding. "Though there is still one last thing I must ask of all of you before we get ourselves into another battle." His eyes filled with a steely look as his voice took on a more authoritative stance. "You won't just be forced to fight Grimm once we enter this facility. There will likely be people altered by the Grimm much like those we encountered in the village. To what extent the control has manifested will vary from person to person, but even should some attempt to run they are all to be considered our enemies." He raised a hand in protest to silence the multiple voices that were about to speak. "I am not asking you to kill everyone inside the facility. But should the need arise, you must be willing to do whatever it takes to stop those inside from getting out. We cannot afford to have even one corrupted individual escape into the outside world. There's no telling what kind of damage they could cause should they be left unchecked and lose control or be able to continue their research and experiments." His head turned to face Neo and Emerald specifically. "That includes Mister Frost."

Emerald stood with her fists clenched, her mouth opening to give a piece of her mind to Ozpin once more, though she was stopped as she felt a sudden grip on her wrist closest to Neo as the girl held tightly onto her with her hair covering her face as she looked slightly down towards the floor.

"We understand. Whatever it takes."

Emerald's face fell as she looked at the girl beside her. "Neo…"

"I'm sorry, I truly am. But it is as I said. Sometimes we lose good people because of the harshness of reality. I wish it were not the case, but sometimes life is still able to take its toll despite our best efforts."

As the airship touched down gently in the middle of a large clearing of trees, everyone started to shuffle off the ship, leaving Emerald and Neo as the last ones aboard as the green-haired girl started walking towards the open hatch. She was stopped by the grip on her wrist not relenting despite the conversation with Ozpin having finished moments ago before they had started to land.

"Neo, you can let go. I won't go after him like a rabid hound."

"That's not why I held you back, Em." Neo's voice was calm as she turned her face up to look at the girl with a determined look in her eyes. "I wasn't lying when I said we'd do whatever it takes."

"You can't be serious! We both know how much he means to you! You honestly expect me to believe you'll be able to kill him if it co-"

"Who said anything about killing him?"

The way she said it froze Emerald on the spot as she began to recognize the mischievous look in Neo's dual-coloured eyes. Then, a smirk came to her own face as she used the smaller girl's grip to pull her up into a standing position next to her.

"Guess some things never change, huh? We're both just terrible at following orders given to us, huh?"

"Only when there's a better way to do things."

"Well then…let's go rescue our third musketeer then."

* * *

 **I know, I know. This chapter doesn't exactly scream action or length, but I figured it better to have them arrive this chapter THEN have them deal with stuff next. That and the fact that I didn't feel as creative when I wrote this chapter, so that's likely part of the reason as well for this one not being as flashy. I can promise this though - there won't be any short exposition chapters like this for the remainder of the story as we are now in the final pass. I'm thankful to everyone that has been with me so far through this journey that I started back in 2015, and I hope you all enjoy the final confrontations as we approach the end. Until the next update, I wish you all well.**


	43. Chapter 43

The group marched on in muted silence as they approached the location of the secret lab that they were set to invade. Eyes scanned the tree line around them as they pressed further into the dense underbrush, their weapons already drawn and prepared for combat at the shortest notice. But all was quiet.

Too quiet.

"You're absolutely sure we're in the right place?" Yang commented with a bored tone despite her alert focus.

Qrow's head angled slightly back towards the blonde, one of his eyes barely visible as he continued to keep one eye facing ahead of them. "This is the area that the coordinates said it would be. What did you think, that the place would be out in the open?"

"…It would've made things easier at the very least."

"Nice try, firecracker. But we're not dealing with street thugs and punks. This is something much more dangerous and much less wanting to be found."

"So…what?" Emerald piped up from another part of the group. "We just wander around until we find a secret door or something? That could take anywhere from hours to weeks depending on where they happened to hide it."

"Then we keep looking and eventually break up into groups to cover more ground if we don't find anything in a set amount of time. That's the only way we can find them without them giving us the slip again."

"That won't be necessary my avian friend."

Everyone's bodies went taut at the sound of a voice that came from further into the treeline, their forms moving to form a perimeter so that they could watch every angle to prepare for the person that was likely about to attack them. However, despite their actions they still hadn't covered one angle of approach.

The sky.

A lean form fell from the sky and landed with a solid impact in the centre of their group, a bodies turning as one to face the lone figure now standing in their midst. Even so, this person seemed oddly calm at the fact that two well trained Huntsman and over half-a-dozen trainees all had their weapons pointed towards him. His sharp eyes scanned over the group as though appraising them even as he kept his hands clasped neatly behind his back.

"So THIS is the task force you chose to employ in weeding us out, Ozpin?" The man chided with a smug look as he turned to face the former Headmaster. "A drunken veteran and a group of children? And here we thought you would actually pose a threat since you were able to discover Amala's whereabouts."

"Are we supposed to know who you are, buddy?" Qrow commented even as his hand sat calmly on the hilt of his sword, ready to swing at a moment's notice.

"Oh, not at all. I am a man of no consequence." The man replied with a bow towards the grizzled Huntsman. "I am simply one of our facilities first lines of defense to prevent you from interfering with our plans. I only joined this operation after the designs to save as many humans and Faunus was foiled the first time. I was merely brought on as a…enforcer…should the skills of someone like me be necessary."

"One guy?" Qrow scoffed posture lightened somewhat. "Didn't know that they were desperate as well as stupid."

"Qrow." Ozpin warned from beside the man.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Listen to your master, Qrow. Like a good little birdie. I at least know how to obey mine." The lanky man tutted with a waggle of his finger.

"Look pal, I don't know what you're getting at, but you're completely surrounded. One move towards any of us and the rest WILL open fire. They may be kids, but they've been through a fair bit getting here."

"Oh I welcome the opportunity to experience the next generation's techniques firsthand. But you know as well as I do that I wouldn't face without a few loyal to myself."

"Then bring your men out!" Yang snapped at the man, growing impatient at the chatter continuing to go on. "If they're so loyal then where are they at?"

"Foolish girl." The man retorted without even turning to face her. "I never said they were people. Only that they were loyal to me." With that, he raised one hand to the air before snapping his fingers loudly. The sound seemed to echo for a short time before fading into the wind. Moments later, that very same wind began to increase in intensity as though awakened by the man that was now in their midst.

"Is this his Semblance or something? Because if so, this'll be a breeze!" Yang shouted over the roaring gusts.

"Now is NOT the time for your puns, Yang!" Weiss reprimanded from nearby.

"Aw, come on. That one was perfect!"

"I would listen to your friend, young lady." The man's voice seemed shriller even as the wind's picked up further. "You never know when you're life might be at stake!"

His form suddenly hunched over as crunching sounds began to fill the air. Eeyes widened as black plumage and white cartilage began bursting forth all over his body. In the span of only a few seconds where once an ordinary looking man had stood, now a creature with vibrant red and black eyes as well as large Grimm-like wings sprouting from his back stood. His hands had transformed into claw like appendages while his skin was now covered with black feathers and scattered spikes of white bone. It was clear the moment the transformation had started that this man was much like Amala.

He was part-Grimm.

"I was hoping to wait a little and toy with all of you before revealing my new form." The man shook his head sadly as he raised both arms in mock defeat. "But then the young blonde just HAD to go and open her mouth while the adults were talking. Nothing annoys me more than children that don't know when to obey their elders and keep quiet. You should really be disciplining them more if this is how they behave, Headmaster."

"My students can fend for themselves despite their young age." Ozpin commented with a frown as his cane pointed towards the now birdlike monster in front of them. "I believe it should be you that is worried for your safety."

"Hardly." The man squawked out an obnoxious laugh as he suddenly leapt into the air, his new wings keeping him afloat as he drew a pair of whips from his belt, each sparking with electricity. "I am the superior being here, regardless of the skill any of you possess. Did you know that my Semblance allows me to speak with animals? Nothing truly impressive for a Huntsman or Huntress, surely, but for a mercenary like myself you would be surprised how helpful the bulk of a bear or the tracking abilities of a canine could be when you were out on your own. I always found myself most easily able to speak with birds however. We seemed to have a like-minded though process in scouting out our prey and moving in as quickly and as deadly as possible to accomplish our tasks. Imagine my surprise when a rather confidant scientist seeks ME out for his research, claiming that he has a way for me to be even more in tune with my animals."

"The man you work for is nothing but a snake. You should have known that he was only using you to further his research and that you were simply a pawn." Ozpin warned even as the man continued to speak, undeterred by Ozpin's comments.

"Oh I knew that I was walking into something dangerous. The animals warned me of the noises they heard and the monsters they witnessed within the walls of his research bases. But I was intrigued. Especially when he mentioned that it would allow me to speak with Grimm. Imagine, being able to take a pack of Grimm and turning them on unsuspecting prey in a heartbeat. Normally the creatures are wild and random in their killings, but with a clearly defined leader they would prove to be the ultimate task force. So I agreed. I submitted myself to their tests and allowed them to inject Grimm substances directly into my body. The pain was unbelievable, but as it settled in I could feel my awareness grow. I could suddenly sense the faint echoes of emotions around people and animals. My own senses had been heightened to the point that I barely needed to rely on animals anymore to track a target. But the same animals I had trusted now began to shun me. They could sense the apex predator inside of me and crawled away out of fear of what I had become. It didn't end up mattering as I had new allies to call upon. Imagine my surprise when my predisposition towards birds continued through that process. Their dull minds needed only a light nudge to do my bidding, and their claws were the sharpest at tearing their prey to shreds. But why describe them when I can simply introduce then." The man raised his arms into the sky as his voice screeched out. "COME ON OUT, BOYS!"

The sound of flapping wings filled the air as the origins of the increased wind became apparent. Surrounding them were half-a-dozen Nevermore's, their flapping winds causing the leaves on the trees to rustle loudly under the rough winds. Their beady red eyes gazed down hungrily at the group even as they stayed back under their master's silent command.

"Ever since I was able to speak with these creatures, I have dreamed of the day that I could test them against the best our crumbling society has to offer!" The man roared victoriously, a wicked gleam filling his eyes as he gazed down at the group with a hungry look of his own. "The world's greatest defenders! The slayer of Grimm! The protectors of the innocent! A dying breed in a dying world as we slowly become caged in by the very monsters they claim to fight! I refuse to die feebly at the hands of a mindless beast!" The man's gaze turned calculating as he lowered his arms and regarded those on the ground more calmly. "And since I imagine many would agree with not wanting to die I will present you with a single choice. Leave now and forget about this business of stopping our plans. My creatures will escort you out of the forests and back to civilization where you will build your walls and hope for a brighter day. Or you choose to press on and fight me only to die at the hands of me and my creatures. I think you'll make the right call."

"There isn't one." Ruby called out calmly, her rifle raised and pointed threateningly at the man floating above them. "We're stopping you and saving our friend. End of story." With a loud cracking sound, her rifle shook as a lone shot burst out of the chamber aimed directly at the man's chest. His wings curled in slightly and his body quickly descended a few feet to avoid the shot, but its intent had been recognized. The Grimm floating around their master descended with screeches of fury as they sought vengeance for the threat posed to their lead. With that, the battle was met.

Guns blazed and weapons slashed as claws and beaks descended into their midst. The creature's size made them easy targets for anyone there, however it also posed a problem as a vast majority ricocheted off of bones or thick hide and prevented any noteworthy damage. The man flying around and swiping at them with his electrified whips made it difficult to land anything that required a brief moment of focus as his shocks would cause the briefest hesitation or the slightest alteration in aim whenever someone was close to landing a vital shot.

"We need a way to hit them hard with one shot! This isn't working!" Ruby yelled even as she unloaded a series of bullets towards one Nevermore, the shots only annoying it further as it crowed with frustration.

"One of my summons would be able to do it, but there's no time to make one with the Nevermore swiping at us!" Weiss called back over the sounds of combat.

"Then we need to make time! Ren, use your Semblance to hide Weiss!" Jaune turned to his teammate after quickly deflecting a claw with his shield. "We'll cover the two of you the best we can!"

Ren silently nodded as he quickly weaved his way through the group and to Weiss' side, his hand reaching out to clasp her shoulder tightly. Moments later, the two of them seemed to dim as he activated his power and cloaked their presence from the monsters floating around them. All of the monsters, save for one that was only half-Grimm.

"That won't work, you fools!" With a wicked grin, he lashed out with both whips at once towards both Weiss and Ren's bodies. His attack was thwarted as Nora threw herself in the path of the electrified weapons, their energy surging into her as her body landed roughly on the ground. The mercenary's eyes gleamed with a sense of bloodlust as Nora's body twitched on the ground with both implements wrapped tightly around her. "A foolish gesture! You've only prolonged your friend's fate!" His hands activated the return mechanisms on his weapons as he prepared to strike at the two stationary fighters once more, only to frown in confusion as his whips failed to retract to their shortened form. "Freaking pieces of crap, I thought I finished servicing them this morning!"

"Oh, they're not malfunctioning." Yang grinned as she punched aside a Nevermore's face, a squawk of pain leaving it's maw as part of the bone structure cracked from the hit. Her eyes were aglow with red as her Semblance continued to feed her power from the occasional swipes that she purposefully had graze her without doing enough to do serious damage. "They just latched onto the wrong person is all."

Nora slowly got to her feet with both whips held firmly in one hand while her weapon sat poised in the other. Just before jumping in the way of the attack, she had converted her hammer into its launcher form and now it sat pointed directly towards the man that had his weapons firmly in her grip. One pull of the trigger later had a salvo of super charged grenades sailing towards the mercenary, his grip on the whips going slack as he let go of his weapons to fly out of the way of the attack as it blasted into the side of one of the Nevermore. It's body crumpled under the immense damage, a dying screech leaving it's maw as one of his beasts was felled from the attack Nora unleashed.

But the initial job of her block had been satisfied as a large round series of glyphs formed on the ground in front of Weiss and Ren, surrounded by the other combatants. From its centre rose a massive white knight, it's sword raised and ready for combat as it cleanly carved its way through the Nevermore as they flew close to the new enemy, both curious and enraged at something else threatening their territory.

The fight ended quickly as clean swipes ended the life of each and every one of them with ease. The only survivor after a few short moments was the man, now weaponless as he hovered in midair with a furious look on his face.

"I haven't lost! I can still command Ursa and Beowolves to fight for me! You haven't won yet!"

"Just give up already!" Ruby shouted as she fired another round of bullets at the man. body dodged his easily as he descended once again.

"I can fly you morons! You'll have to do better than tha-" His voice was silenced as his own weapons were suddenly wrapped firmly around each of his wings causing him to fall roughly to the ground with a sickening crunch. His wings sat broken at odd angles as he struggled to his feet with a pained look on his face.

"I can still communicate with ordinary animal you fools! I never said they wouldn't listen at all! They simply fear my superior form! The pack will always answer to its alpha member!" From the treeline behind the man came a pack of snarling wolves and pair of bears, their forms ready for a fight.

Only, they weren't there to fight the trained Huntsman and Huntresses.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" The man shouted fearfully as a wolf dove towards one of is broken wings, his body barely moving in time to dodge it. "I am your master! I am the alpha! You obey me!"

"No, I don't believe they do." Ozpin calmly stated as he stood with his cane simply resting in the ground at his feet with his hands rested on its tip. "You said yourself that they were your fellow combatants once upon a time. But then you abandoned them and became a creature set on destruction. Now you are injured and within their territory. YOU have become their prey."

"No! No not like this!" The man shouted as he scrambled away and into another part of the forest. "I will not die like this!"

His retreating form was rapidly followed by the other animals as they sought an easy kill rather than face off against those grouped up in the centre of the clearing. The sounds of screaming echoed for a short time before being abruptly silenced as the air grew still.

"I hope we don't have to fight more people like that." Ruby stated sadly as they began to continue through the trees. "I hate fighting people."

"Sometimes people choose the wrong side and nothing we do can bring them back, Miss Rose." Ozpin stated with a sad look towards the short brunette. "But there are those that still deserve redemption as long as we are willing to offer it to them. As long as you never forget that, then making the tough choices becomes much easier."

With a silent nod, Ruby turned back to return to the rest of the group as they proceeded to move in the direction the man had come from. If they were going to find anything, the direction he was facing AWAY from would likely be their best bet.

* * *

 **Bit of a bizarre week this time around, but no worries since I was still able to punch out another chapter for this story. Not much else to say, so I'll see you all again in a couple of weeks for the next update.**


	44. Chapter 44

Frost watched in silence as his host carried them through the hallways of the facility he had kept in as a prisoner and lab experiment. Now that control had swapped, Asrani had no qualms letting him roam about and familiarize himself with the location whilst waiting for any potential intruders. It was obvious by now that his friends had come along with Qrow and Ozpin, but he had no way to warn them that he wasn't himself anymore. He hoped that they would be able to figure out some way to stop everything going on here without him getting in the way.

The report had come in only a short amount of time previous that one of the mercenary's that had been hired and subsequently augmented had fallen to the incoming Huntsmen and ex-students. It was only a matter of time before they found the entrance to the base and started their search from within. As things stood, Frost was one of the only people here that appeared to have been exposed to the Grimm essence for a prolonged amount of time and survived. Save for Frost and possibly Asrani himself, no one else had ever survived long with a Grimm growing inside them, the beast eventually destroying its host body within a matter of time that seemed to differ from person to person.

How close to death had Neo potentially been? Was she one of the people that could have survived for a longer period of time? Or would she have been lost without Frost's timely intervention and removal of the being inside her?

Whatever the case, she was safe now. He had sent the message out before being captured in the hopes that it would give her the courage and strength to go on without him. A small part had even hoped that they would be able to reach him in time to prevent his fall into darkness. But it was too late. The Grimm now had control of his body and left him to watch until such a time that it deemed his unusable.

If the others found him, would they attack on sight? Or would they approach him like an ally with their weapons lowered and leave themselves open to his betrayal? He hoped that since they would be with Qrow and Ozpin that the veterans would dissuade them from doing something stupid. But he knew deep down, that no matter what they did that some of them would still likely try to save him against they're better judgment.

He just hoped that they would be able to stop him without him hurting anyone he cared about.

* * *

As for the others, their search continued to take them carefully through the dense shrubbery and occasional rocky outcropping as they sought the entrance to the base that the mercenary had clearly been meant to defend. All of them were on edge, expecting another assailant at any time before they reached their goal. But as they edged around a large tree and climbed a small hill, none came.

"Is anyone else slightly concerned about the fact that so far we've only fought the one person so far? Shouldn't they have more guards posted than that?" Emerald asked aloud the question on many of their minds.

Qrow shook his head as his eyes continued to scan the surrounding area. "It's probably on purpose. Leave a skeleton screw outside and keep the rest in reserve on the off chance we find the place. Odds are if it's so difficult to find for us, some of their own may potentially lose track of a hidden base if they were to be sent outside of it. That or they're not as loaded with manpower as we thought. But based on everything we've dealt with so far, that still potentially poses a threat considering what individual people have done with the power of the Grimm already. All we can do is keep looking."

"Yeah, well we'll need to stop and rest at some point." Jaune spoke up from one end of the group. "Anybody else say we just do it here and then keep looking after we take a quick break?"

"Kid, we can't stop looking for an instant." Qrow turned over to face Jaune with a scowl. "Every moment we waste means more time for them to pack up and go. We're not letting that happen."

"Qrow." Ozpin sternly commanded as he rested a hand gently on the man's shoulder. "I understand your sense of urgency in this. I'm concerned as well about the ramifications of them escaping us once more. But they're all still children no matter how much hardship they've been through. I know that on your own you can cover much more ground in a timely manner. Let them rest for a short time. I'm not saying that YOU have to stop looking. I'll stay with them while you keep investigating."

Qrow took a deep breath as he relaxed his posture from the tenser stance he had currently taken. "You're right. It's easy to forget that sometimes when I look at their faces. After everything that's happened, they've had to grow up quickly in a short amount of time." The man started walking towards a thicker potion of the trees and shrubbery as he turned back slightly to say some parting words. "I shouldn't be long. Hopefully with a little harder searching I can find where those bastards are hiding."

Ozpin simply watched with a knowing look as the man stepped into the shadows with a rustling sound before the air went silent save for the shriek of a crow from somewhere nearby.

"Professor?" Ruby's voice alerted the older man to the presence of one of the group at his side. "What did you mean by Uncle Qrow being able to search faster on his own? How can one set of eyes be better than almost a dozen?"

"Everyone has things that they excel at more than others, Miss Rose." Ozpin lectured Ruby with a calm expression. "After spending so much time in the field by himself, Qrow has picked up ways to find answers quicker than if he were in a group of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Not many others can say the same. There's no need to worry, he'll be safe on his own. He always was in the past."

"If you say so."

* * *

Frost felt his eyes narrow as he saw a dark shape flit across one of the outdoor monitors for a moment, the feed coming from a camera likely hidden outside the base to keep an eye on any visitors. Or in their current case, unwanted visitors.

His eyes passed to another screen as he saw the same shape zip by once again. Whatever it was, it was fast. But judging from its size, it couldn't be anything other than some sort of animal roaming the forest. Normally that should be normal, but something about this animal moving alone had even Frost curious as he felt his body turn to watch other monitors as the shape continued to flit by from time to time.

Eventually, the shape stopped appearing and Frost passed it off as a curious animal outside of its territory that would eventually leave. That thought was quickly forgotten as he saw a larger shape emerge from behind a set of trees and calmly walk slightly below one of the cameras centre. The figure stopped for a moment as though standing in front of something before turning its face up to look DIRECTLY INTO THE CAMERA. A voice came through moments later as a smirk etched its way across the person's face.

"Found you." The familiar tone of the grizzled Huntsman came over the speakers and into Frost's ears.

They had finally found the base. Frost could barely feel how quickly his body moved as one of his arms lashed out and slapped a series of buttons on the console that he vaguely remembered having something to do with some sort of emergency code. He had only been partially paying attention when Asrani and his Grimm had been speaking to one another after all, so focused on trying to keep himself sane inside of his own body for as much time as possible.

* * *

Neo took a sizable drink of water from one of their canteens before Emerald hurriedly snatched it out of her grip with a scowl.

"Leave some for the rest of us, geez."

Neo gave Emerald a pointed look as she leaned back against one of the trees they had chosen as they're resting place. "I'd like to see you try and not get thirsty when you're forced to march with a bunch of people where you're the shortest one. If I could use my teleporting I would be fine, but since I don't know where we're going I'm forced to match everyone else's stride. So I'm sorry for being a little on the shorter side."

"I prefer to call it fun-size, myself." Ruby commented from a nearby tree where she was also resting with her back to it as she faced the two conversing. "Being tall isn't THAT big a deal."

"Says the girl that doesn't stop drinking milk in the hopes that it'll help her grow more." Yang retorted from next to her sister with a smirk.

"Traitor!" Ruby declared dramatically as she pointed a finger towards her sibling. "Besides, I don't need to look like you! How did you say that girl with the rainbow getup put it? Oh yeah, I don't need to be so top-heavy!"

Multiple heads turned with surprise at the loud laughter that came from Weiss at that declaration as the girl remembered the fight during the Vytal Festival given that she was part of it. As the girl gently calmed down, her head turned with curiosity to see why things had suddenly gotten silent as she witnessed multiple eyes simply staring at her.

"What? It was funny."

"Oh come on, Weiss, you too?" Yang faux-deflated somewhat at one of her other teammates betraying her. "Blake, come on back me up on thi-" She started as she turned, only to stop as she noticed the small grin etched across her other teammates face. "Et tu, Blake?"

"Weiss is right, Yang. It was pretty good."

"Fine, I'll remember that if any of you ever need saving in the future." Yang grumbled as she leaned against her tree once more with a pout.

"You all done?" A familiar voice came from nearby as a figure exited the thicker treeline and rejoined the group with a casual stride.

"Uncle Qrow! You're back already?" Yang questioned, her "betrayal" rapidly forgotten as the man reached everyone currently resting, save for Ozpin as he stood off to the side and watched the group silently.

"Yup, and I know where the entrance is, too."

"Best. Huntsman. Ever!" Ruby shouted as she leapt to her feet and retrieved Crescent Rose from its position tipped against hers and Yang's tree. "Let's go stop the bad guys and save Frost!" Ruby declared with her take on a heroic pose as everyone else slowly got to their feet as well.

"Remember what I said earlier, Miss Rose. Not everyone can always be saved." Ozpin warned as he joined the group as they turned to march in the direction of the base with Qrow at the lead.

Ruby's face fell somewhat at the man's warning. "I know."

Meanwhile, Neo and Emerald gave each other determined looks unbeknownst to the rest of the group. After all, just because not everyone could be saved…

Didn't mean they weren't going to do everything in their power to try.

* * *

 **Sooo...I think I'm going to stop saying no more exposition when my brain keeps going "You can't just skip to another action scene, there needs to be a transition! Especially near the finale!" So I'm gonna apologize for that mess. Also, sorry for the chapter being a little abnormally short this week, it was obnoxiously hot on the day I wrote this and it made it hard to focus on getting anything more written when I was trying not to fee overheated even while drinking lots of water. Not the greatest excuse, but the next chapter WILL be better (otherwise I'm doing something horribly wrong).**


	45. Chapter 45

"So…anybody got a key?"

The majority of the group gave each other shrugs and unsure looks as they stood before the entrance to the facility. They had followed Qrow through the woods as he led them to their destination, but now they were faced with a new issue. Upon further inspection, it seemed that the door was reinforced beyond normal means. Whether that was to keep people out, or to keep something inside, or even both was anyone's guess.

"Well, we've got at least 2 or 3 heavy hitters; why not just try hitting the door at once with a few Semblances going off at the same time?" Yang proposed as she cracked her knuckles with a pointed look. Off to the side, Nora began to take up a stance with Magnhild unholstered while a few of them backed away cautiously.

"Too noisy." Qrow shook his head in refusal to the suggestion. "They may know that we're on the way or even here, but we don't want them being able to know exactly where we are at all times. We have to be at least a little stealthy about this."

"Well yeah, but how are we supposed to get-"

The words were cut off as the large frame shook slightly before it began to open with the booming noise of shifting machinery. Apparently, whoever was inside wasn't against them just walking through the front door.

"-inside. Well that works." Yang stated even as the group began to move through the open passage with their weapons drawn and their senses on high alert.

"Just be careful as we go through this place." Qrow warned from the head of the group. "We have no idea what kind of defenses this place has or what else they might have hidden in here. Keep your eyes peeled and watch each other's backs."

* * *

"You would think that they would have hesitated at least a little bit more when the doors opened." Asrani thought aloud as he stood next to Frost within the security room that he had been watching everything from. "I know we invited them in, but to think that even someone like Qrow or Ozpin would waltz in without at least a little bit of investigation is curious. Either they must think they'll be able to handle whatever threat we throw at them, or they aren't very confident in our defenses since we only had one man outside watching the place."

"Or they could just be deciding that whatever is in here is worth the risk." "Frost" spoke as he turned a black and red eye towards the scientist. "They know full well the kinds of things being kept here, but the average Grimm doesn't mean anything against that many trained fighters. I still say we just let a bunch of them loose at once to see how well they defend themselves in confined spaces."

"The Grimm would be at a disadvantage as well, you imbecile." The older man chided as he continued to watch the screens with an appraising eye. "Many of them are bulkier than the average person, so they would likely end up pinning each other in doorways and passages trying to scramble over one another in their frenzy. No, we need to split them up first. Make them easier prey for our little friends before we make our next move."

"And how are we supposed to control how they get split up? They're pretty tightly packed together right now."

"We bait a few of them away from the pack." The man finally turned to face "Frost" with a sinister grin. "That is precisely one of the reasons that I wanted to be sure of your allegiances before I let you out of the containment cell."

"And you couldn't tell me this before, because…?"

"I needed to know who would be in their group before I knew whether or not this would be fruitful. The last report we received from Amala informed me that some…familiar faces…were there in the village she had been instructed to work within. Meaning that within that group are your previous companions. And if there's ever a weak link within a group, it's someone with a personal agenda."

The beast inhabiting Frost frowned as it turned to look at the screens for himself. After scanning the various windows to see the different angles within the base, he finally noticed the group and what Asrani was getting at. It was easy to spot them even from here and with the slight gradient that the video feeds had from the cameras themselves.

He clearly meant for him to bait out Neo and Emerald from the group to separate them. But it was too soon. It needed more time to let Frost wallow and despair to feed him more before he would have to start looking for sustenance on its own. It didn't want to give up it's free meal this early on.

"I don't hear an agreement. I thought that you would savor the opportunity to finish the final strand of humanity within you. Or was I wrong in my assessment of your alliances?" Asrani's tone took on a dark note as the beast turned with shock and worry on its face towards its master.

"No! I was just wondering if it would be possible to…play with them a little bit after we split them up." The monster clawed at its one chance to sustain itself at least a little while longer. "We only need them split up after all, after that anything else we do to the individual groups doesn't matter as much, right?" Asrani gave him a scrutinizing look for a few moments before nodding slowly and turning back to face the screens with a wave of his hand.

"Very well, but don't play with them TOO much. We'll still need your assistance in handling some of the larger problems in their group after we've dealt with the small fry."

"Frost" nodded in acknowledgement before turning and sprinting off towards a passage that would allow him to come up behind the group as they progressed through the building.

* * *

"Didn't want to kill them so soon, huh?" Frost asked aloud as he sat within the darkness of his mind. "Well that's too bad. I don't really want to let them see me like this either, but if it means there's some closure and they can put you down then I'm all for it."

" **You think they'll be able to kill us so easily, do you?** " The monster hissed at him from all around as it controlled his body and led them through the building. " **You saw what we were able to do to the majority of them after what Adam did, right? What makes you think TWO of them can do what eight couldn't?** "

"Because you'll never see the two of them coming."

" **That won't be an issue. After all, at least one of them will be dead before they know what's happened.** **Consider it a mercy kill. I just can't decide who it'll be.** "

Frost scoffed even as he tried and failed to hide the worry that he felt at the beast's statement that he would be attacking one of them right away. "Yeah, mercy from a Grimm. I'll believe it when I see it."

" **I kept you alive, didn't I? It's too bad I can't promise the same for your friends.** "

"Yeah, well I don't think tha-"

Frost's voice stopped as his body turned the corner and he noticed the group standing in front of him, their backs facing away. They had no idea he was here judging from their stance and pacing, and he know the beast inside of him could tell that as well.

" **Looks like it's showtime.** "

Frost could already tell what was happening even as he noticed the slight pulsing around him as a bolt of energy began to form in both of his hands. He watched in fear as the monster raised his hands to point towards the group as the air crackled around them. It must have made some noise however as a few of them began to turn with looks of confusion as they turned their various weapons towards whatever had approached them. He could see the sudden hesitation and looks of surprise as they saw his face before noticing he energy he was amassing in his hands. But it was too late. He couldn't stop the attack even if he tried. But that didn't stop him from trying to assert one last moment of control before he wouldn't be able to again. It would just take…a single moment…

* * *

A blast of electricity rocketed out of Frost's hands towards the group even as they tried to dodge out of the way of the powerful attack. At first, many of them had thought that he had managed to break himself out and had managed to find them, but the way he had been standing as well as the action he had been in the middle of performing was all too telling of their worst fears.

Frost was no longer on their side. And he was set to kill.

And yet…his attack went far off course as it sailed into the ceiling beyond the group and fizzled throughout the metal lining the walls and ceiling without doing anyone harm.

"Dude, what the fuck?!" Yang shouted out as her eyes flashed red as she moved to march towards the lone boy. She was stopped however as an arm reached out to bock her path and keep her from splitting off from the group, Qrow's head shaking being the only sign he gave that it was a bad idea to approach. His head then turned to face Frost with a pointed glare.

"Finally lost, huh kid?" Qrow questioned as he shouldered his weapon and tilted his head at the boy. "Or is he already gone and you're just some monster sent by the doctor that wanted to have a little fun?"

"You have…to kill me…" Frost groaned out as his body seemed to sag before them, his entire body tensed up and his face sweaty from exertion all of a sudden. "I can't…hold it off…for much longer…"

Neo's eyes widened in shock before she moved to stand in front of everyone with her arms outstretched, her back facing Frost as she pleaded with tears in the corners of her eyes. "You can't kill him! He's still in there! We can save him!"

"Kid, he just tried to attack us. Probably meant to kill at least one or two of us with that attack, too. Even if he was able to redirect that attack once, what's keeping him from just doing it again when he tires out enough for that thing inside of him to just attack us again?"

"He won't! I won't let him!"

"Neo…" Ruby started as she stepped towards the girl even as she kept Crescent Rose at the ready in its sniper form. "What if this is like what Professor Ozpin was talking about? What if he really CAN'T be saved?"

"I don't care! None of you are going to kill him!" Neo exclaimed even as Frost's body seemed to relax for a moment before he stood up straight once again.

"While I appreciate that, Neo…I don't think there's any convincing them. But why don't I make the choice easier for you?" The boy spread his arms invitingly as is posture seemed to relax from its aggressive tone from before. "I'll let you be th one to do it, no strings attached. That way you don't have to witness someone else kill the only person you still have left from your childhood."

Neo's eyes widened as she turned to face her friend…or at least his body. "You're…not Frost. What did you do with him?"

"Just made him take a little nap. Can't have him interfering and tuckering himself out after all. Besides, I've been meaning to thank you for a long time now."

"Thank…me? For what?"

"For giving me the chance to exist, that's what!" "Frost" stated as though it were obvious as he continued to hold his arms out. "If it weren't for your boy's bleeding heart and overusing his powers to both erase the Grimm that had been growing in you as well as that power surge he had the night Beacon fell, I wouldn't be here right now! It's only because his reserves and Aura were so low that I was able to finally gain a foothold and start working my way in. It's still taken a while since then to finally get here, but I finally have a body of my own again!"

"…Again?" Emerald asked as she stepped forward to place a calming hand on Neo's shoulders as the smaller girl shook with her eyes wide and fear etched on her face at the statements just recently made by the monster inside of Frost. "What's that supposed to mean?"

An exaggerated look of understanding appeared on the boy's face as the monster continued. "That's right; he never got the chance to tell any of you. I guess he just didn't think it important enough to inform any of you just what I am. I'm not just a Grimm inhabiting this boy. I'm the most important Grimm in both his life and his little friend here."

"I'm the one that killed your parents."

* * *

 **Had to reveal it eventually. I couldn't just state something like that happening to ONE character and not have it shared with everyone else later on. What it means for the next series of events?...You'll just have to wait and see. All in all, I know that some of these chapters approaching the ending aren't my best. But I can promise that the finale should have you on the edge of your seat. Or at least some of you. I can't say for certain since I don't know most, if any of you personally. So I could be totally off the mark and not have anyone baiting their breath. Whatever. Until next time, hope you all have a good one.**


	46. Chapter 46

"…You did NOT just do that."

Even unseen, Frost could tell that the Grimm was likely smirking as it seemed to enjoy doing. "Oh, but I did. Besides, it's better she hears it from you then from someone else."

"Except that it WASN'T ME!" Frost roared back to the darkness surrounding him. "You said it, KNOWING that it would cause some sort of reaction! And for what?! Some perverse pleasure in seeing people miserable? Or was messing with me not enough for you?!"

"It's not like you can do anything." His shadows replied back. "I'm the one in control now, remember? You're just a pathetic little passenger I have along until things here are finished. Then I'll finish you off and you can go join your precious family in the afterlife."

"The family that YOU KILLED!" His entire being burned with rage as he pounced at the shadows, his hands reaching for something – anything – that he could wrap them around tightly.

The humming sound of satisfaction filled the air around him as the shadows seemed to pulse greedily. "Hmmmm…there's that rage that just makes it all worth it. You're only making it worse, you know." Frost took a step back as the darkness seemed to reach for him. "The angrier you get the stronger I become and the bigger threat I end up being for your friends. You wouldn't want that would you?"

"I made you miss once, I can do it again."

The Grimm scoffed. "Hardly. I know that it took practically everything you had just to move my hand a few inches to fire above their heads. I can promise you that the next time…I won't miss."

"That's if they even give you the chance."

"Oh…I think they will. They're a little distracted by an old friend standing in front of them after all."

* * *

"W-what did you say?" Neo stammered out as she stared at her friend's body, her entire form frozen with shock at his previous statement.

"I said, I'M THE ONE THAT KILLED YOUR PARENTS." Frost's voice held a patronizing tone as it repeated its words. "Geez, you humans and Faunus really are just clueless sometimes. You literally say the truth to their faces and they just go all dopey-eyed and open-mouthed at the first big reveal. Pathetic." His face gained a sympathetic look for a moment before it continued. "Though, to be fair, it was only the boy's father and your mother that I killed. The other woman was put down by the man in charge of this whole thing when my body was too broken to continue fighting. For retired Huntsman and Huntresses, they sure could put up a fight."

"No…" Neo muttered, barely loud enough for those standing around to hear it.

"It's true, sadly. They all died trying to save the people they cared so much about…only for it to be a waste as they got themselves caught up in a mess they would never have a shred of hope to get out of. The boy is already mine, after all. I'm just here to make sure the rest of you don't make it the rest of the way through this place."

"I won't…"

"Oh, save the pitiful theatrics. I already know you can't kill me. Or at the very least that you don't WANT to kill me. I look too much like your friend for you to take the shot. I can see it in your faces." Frost's body paused s its gaze fell on Qrow and Ozpin. "…Well, most of you at least. But it'll be enough to stop the others that would from getting involved. So I'll give you two choices. Consider it a favour to the person that owned this body before me."

His arms opened invitingly as he stepped to the side, leaving the passage back to the entrance open for them to see. "You can leave, and leave us in peace. Or you can keep moving further in, but know that it WILL result in open combat with myself and every other being in this building."

"And how are we supposed to know you won't try to stab us in the back anyways, even if we WERE to leave?" Weiss questioned with a sharp tone.

The creature placed a hand over its heart with a smirk. "You'll just have to trust me, I guess. It's either that, or you'll have to kill me. No play fighting, no sparring. Just death."

"No."

The creature's eyes turned with a slight glint to them as they rested on Neo. "Oh, look. She's able to form proper sentences again. I wonder what else she has to say?"

"I won't let you take him."

Frost frowned as he crossed his arms against his chest. "Kid, if you're referring to who I think you're referring to, you don't have a choice. He's mine. End of story."

"I SAID NO!"

In a flash, Neo disappeared and formed behind Frost's body, her own body already twisting as she swung a leg out towards the back of his skull with a look of anger etched across her face. Time seemed to slow as her boot collided with the back and side of his head, forcing his upper body to snap forward as the attack made contact with him.

And then he stopped.

Rather than his body being forced into the ground or even being sent sprawling from an attack that would have stunned most people hit by it. He simply stood there, slightly bent over, with Neo's foot firmly planted on him.

"Gotcha."

From within his jacket, Frost pulled out a small remote with a series of buttons on it. His finger then pressed down on one of them as a large metal piece started to rapidly close between the rest of the group and the two standing down the hallway. Emerald was already in motion as she had started running at the two the moment Neo had teleported, but a quick action from Yang had one hand gripped firmly on Ruby's cloak, preventing the other girl from getting trapped on the other side as well. As the plate slammed into place, Neo quickly hopped back from the boy's body even as he chuckled briefly while he straightened his form.

"That was…far too easy. For people that are supposed to be trained through hardship and strong of will…you really do cave quickly when it comes to your allies. I wonder if the others will be any luckier than you two?"

His finger quickly moved to press another button, the sharp grating of metal on metal filling the air, though a bit muffled as it came from the other side of the wall that had just closed recently.

"What did you do?" Emerald demanded as she held her weapons threateningly n front of her.

"I just gave our other guests a little welcome gift of their own to keep them busy. We need Grimm to be able to experiment on mixing them with other living beings after all. Where else do you think we get the raw materials from?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine. Besides, once we're done with you we'll just open the passage back up with that remote of yours."

Frost smirked as the hand holding the remote crackled with electricity for a moment, the controller making an ugly hissing noise before it cracked and began to smoke. "You mean…the remote that USED to be able to control the passages. My mistake." His arm shifted down to his side as he let the useless piece of metal and plastic fall to the ground with a brief clattering noise. "Besides, I hardly think that this fight will be at all fair when it's the two of you against one of me."

"That was the point." Emerald replied.

"I meant for you."

* * *

"Damnit, Neo." Frost grumbled to himself after witnessing everything that had just occurred. "Why would let him bait you like that? You're smarter than this! I know you are!"

He slowly began to pace back and forth as he tried to think of something he could do. At a glance, the two on one odds would seem to be in advantage for Emerald and Neo. But because their opponent was effectively himself, the Grimm would know about their Semblances, methods of attack, all sorts of different ways they fought purely because it had access to his mind and memories. And because the Grimm was a more vicious version of himself, he would fight much more aggressively than usual – something that the other two wouldn't be prepared for.

"There's got to be something…" Frost groaned to himself even as the battle waged on around him.

* * *

A quick slash from Emerald's blades was easily dodged as the Grimm channeled small pockets of Frost's power to leap away from the attack before spinning around and taking a swipe at Neo with a clenched fist. A narrow parry from her parasol was all the prevented the empowered fist from colliding head-on with her face. Another surge of power combined with a solid two-foot jump launched him towards the ceiling and over a salvo of bullets from Emerald's weapon while Neo opened the shielded fabric of her parasol to defend herself from the spray. His body twisted as it flipped over and he pushed off of the ceiling with both feet, one hand outstretched and brimming with crackling electricity as it landed squarely on the metal floor and sent out a pulse of energy in the attempt to knock the two off balance. Their auras absorbed the brunt of the wave, though the power behind it still caused them both to stagger somewhat.

"Like I said. The odds were against you, girls. I'm the superior being here. The abilities of a combat-experienced human with the strength and savagery of a Grimm. There's nothing that two children can do against me."

"That's what you think." Emerald replied as a flash of light put Neo directly in front of him before a boot once again met his head – this time on his chin as his head snapped upwards and forced his vision on the ceiling. When he turned his vision back down to the area around him, neither of the girls could be seen.

"So…that's the game we're playing, is it?" The Grimm chuckled as it stood up straight. "A little game of cat and mouse, huh? Seeing as it lets me get more familiar with these powers…why not? I'll humour you, children, and take part in your little charade. But first…"

His hands flashed pure white for a moment as he built up energy between his fingertips before raising both hands and releasing the stored power within them in the form of crackling bolts of electricity. As they arced through the air, small trickles of energy pulled away as it sought out the nearby metal surfaces to take hold of. But the majority of it kept going as it flew across the passage…before landing square in the backs of Neo and Emerald as their bodies writhed in pain. Their forms then fell to the ground for a few moments before they tried to stand even as their muscles contracted from temporary paralysis.

"Don't take me for a fool. I know your abilities and I know what you two are capable of. But seeing as I'm still part Grimm I can still sense traces of fear, anger, any sort of negative emotion. And let me tell you," The creature paused for a moment as it inhaled deeply. "The two of you reek of it."

* * *

"Fuck, fuck, shit." Frost cursed to himself as he watched Emerald and Neo collapse to the ground from his Semblance. He knew that the two of them would have to try and be sneaky to stand a chance, but he hadn't counted on the Grimm's taunting working in multiple ways to also make them give off a way for it to sense them on top of luring them to him. All through the fight, he had felt his body move through each action as it dodged, attacked, and even released his Semblance. And yet there was nothing he could do to stop it.

…Or maybe not. But the thought of it made him hesitate for a moment.

All he had been attempting to do was move his body. But his Semblance, if any of the old stories surrounding them were to be believed, was tied to his very being. Maybe there WAS something he could do to prevent his new host from bringing harm to the ones he had come to know both over his lifetime and recently. But what would that do? The only other time he truly remembered trying to hold back on his Semblance being released, it had resulted in him unleashing a cannon of energy into the skies of Vale the night that Beacon fell. What would it do if he tried to hold it back from within? Would he burn up from the inside or would it just be the same with the backlash getting stronger and stronger the more he stole away?

Regardless, it had to be done. If only to save the ones about to be hurt worse by what he had become.

"I really was expecting more, you know. It seems every time I face off with you people I get a little more disappointed. First the boy proves weak as I gradually take over without even really needing to try for a lot of it. Then the two of you barely put up a defense when you try to get away from me. It really is unfortunate that we can't keep doing this more. But I have other things to do once I'm finished here. Namely helping kill off the rest of you pathetic bunch off the face of Remnant."

The Grimm raised both hands once more with one pointing to each of the girls. It's eyes the closed with a satisfied grin as it willed the power of Frost's Semblance outwards in a stream that would burn their bodies from the onslaught of energy.

But nothing came.

It's face took on a look of frustration as it tried willing the power forth once again only for nothing to happen for the second time.

"Performance issues?" Emerald smirked even from her prone position on the ground as she struggled to move one arm, her body still mostly paralyzed from the attack they had just taken.

"Save the jokes for someone that might let you survive, you little pest." The Grimm snapped back even as it glared down at its hands while nothing continued to come out. "It seems that this body still wants to reject me somehow, even when I'm the one in power. Probably something to do with that human soul bullshit."

While the Grimm gave it no notice, one of its hands twitched slightly as a small flicker of energy pooled between its fingers before folding back into its hand. But the other two did notice. And one of them knew what it meant.

"Emerald, you need to grab my hand. NOW." Neo commanded even as she struggled to try moving her hand closer to Emerald while the other girl did the same.

"Oh, that's cute. Holding hands as you go? How absolutely disgusting can the two of you get. Just accept that I've won and don't make this more pitiful than it already is."

"You really think you've won?" Neo asked the Grimm even as she saw one of the creatures legs shiver slightly. "I'd pay more attention to my own body if I were you."

"What on Earth is that supposed to-" The creatures words were cut off as its body collapsed to the ground in a seizure, fizzling bolts of electricity arcing from all over its body towards the metal surfaces surrounding it. They would have struck Neo and Emerald as well had the smaller girl not teleported them further down the passage and out of harm's way. It's mouth was open in a soundless scream as it writhed and shook on the ground beneath it.

"What's happening to it?" Emerald asked with a look of worry and confusion etched on her face. To her surprise, Neo's held a look of hope and joy on it as she stared at the scene in front of them, still somewhat paralyzed.

"It's Frost. He's holding back his Semblance. Just like that night in Vale."

"You mean when Mercury hit him while he was charging and started to get all weird looking?"

"More or less."

"So…doesn't that mean he's going to have to release it all anyways? Inside a building with dozens of metal surfaces around us."

"Yes."

"Then I think you need to move us a little closer to the exit than where we are right now."

"…Good idea."

* * *

Frost's body burned as he felt the energy flowing all around him. This was a far different feeling to trying to keep the power inside him like forcing a lid down on a stuffed container. This was more like trying to pull everything towards him and hold onto it instead of it exploding outwards like a flood. He was literally holding the power around him but also inside of himself. And it hurt. But it had stopped the Grimm from hurting his friends.

And as the darkness around him exploded with light…that was all that mattered.

* * *

 **...I don't think I could begin to apologize for the way the last month has had me treat this story. I couldn't really do much the first time around that I had to postpone due to my grandmother passing away, but I'm not sure if me taking a break during the week I was moving was fair to you guys. Regardless, we are now into the final handful of chapters and that's not me sugarcoating it. This story, despite how long I've been at work on it and its predecessor, is almost finished. And I think in some small way that's also why I've chosen to delay the last couple of times that I normally would update. I've been working on this overarching story for over 3 years now. And that's both amazing and terrifying. Because it means that for all the fun I've had writing this adventure from start to finish...soon the ride will come to an end. I wish I could say that I have more planned for this story once I'm done this last arc, but that would be forcing this story to continue down a path that may ruin the care that I've put into it so far.**

 **For what it's worth, I appreciate every single one of you that has read along so far. Every view, every follow, every favorite mean something. A small part of me when I started out was hoping I would someday pull in large groups of people to read this. But at this point what matters most to me is that even if only a few people read it, then it still meant that I was able to interest SOMEBODY. Even when most of the characters aren't even yours to begin with, the story you tell builds an incredibly close bond that is impossible to let go. Regardless of where things may take me in life going forward, I will ALWAYS be a massive fan of RWBY and what RoosterTeeth does. This is just my small way of showing my appreciation for said universe.**

 **But for now that's where I'll leave things, and I'll see you all again in a couple of weeks for the next proper update.**


	47. Chapter 47

Frost's body collapsed to the ground as Neo and Emerald looked on from their position far down the hall. The moment he did, Emerald began to move though she was quickly stopped by a strong grip from Neo's hand on her shoulder.

"Wait, it's not safe yet."

Emerald looked back to the smaller girl with a confused look. "What do you mean, "not safe"? He's out cold!"

"Yes, but his body is still trying to let out the energy that was bottled up when his Semblance was held back. Can't you see it?"

Emerald's eyes turned to the body down the passage as it occasionally twitched, a few stray bolts of electricity ricocheting off towards the numerous metal surfaces surrounding it. Every now and then, a loud bang would echo out as a larger bolt slammed into one of the metal plates lining the walls and blackened that particular section.

"Yeah…maybe you're right. But how long will it be before it's safe to get closer?"

"…I don't know." Neo admitted with a frown. "His Semblance has rarely ever backfired like this, the most recent time being when Mercury kicked him. It happened once or twice when we were younger, but his powers were hardly anything to be too scared of then. The worst anyone ever got was a frizzy hairstyle or a tingly limb if they got too close. It could be a few moments or it could be a while before it's all out of his system. It depends on how much he was trying to hold back."

"So what do we do in the meantime?"

"…We wait. That's all we can do since the others are cut off and trying to get to them could get us horribly lost or worse."

"Damn. I hate waiting."

* * *

Frost felt a tingly sensation as his eyes cleared of the blinding light that had filled his vision moments ago. He blinked cautiously as he tried to regain his bearings. When his vision was finally clear however, he was not met with the sight of metal hallways like he had expected. Instead he was surrounded by a quiet village street devoid of any form of human life. Everywhere he turned there were buildings familiar to him, though he had never expected to see it in such pristine shape again.

It was his old home, before it had been shattered by the Grimm.

" _Didn't have enough of reminiscing, huh?_ " Frost heard a distorted voice call out from behind him. His vision whirled to face the being that spoke, his eyes falling on his own body, though with a few key differences. Instead of the piercing blue eyes he was met with deep black and red as well as a considerably paler complexion mixed with black tendrils etched across its skin. Its form also appeared to be hunched over somewhat, though it was hard to tell if it was a pained stance or one ready to leap into action.

"What do you want? Here to gloat again?" Frost felt his brows furrow as the desire to charge in an punch the being clean in the face passed through his mind.

" _If only._ " The being responded as it straightened itself to stretch its arms briefly before returning to its original stance. " _No, I'm here to finish what I should have done days ago. It seems that letting you linger has proven to be an inconvenience that I'm sick of having around._ "

"And what about your feeding source? Not so afraid that you'll just wither away once I'm all gone, then" Frost inquired as he took a cautious step back even as the creature approached in the same manner.

" _I'll find another way to sustain myself, after all your little friends are likely still nearby once we're done here. Once you're dead for good, the pain I'll steal away from the smaller one will keep me going for a while at least. The other one will make a nice appetizer given her frustration._ "

"Yeah, I don't think so." Frost responded as he planted one foot firmly in the ground behind him, bracing himself for the brawl that he knew was coming. "I managed to hold you off multiple times already. I'll do it again."

" _Each one of those pathetic delays only stalled me for mere seconds. What makes you think that you can do anything now with how weak you truly are?_ "

"Why don't you look around and think about that, yourself? Our surroundings don't seem the least bit odd to you?" Frost smirked as he watched the Grimm gaze about.

" _Hmm, maybe I was wrong about how much strength you have left. But it still pales next to mine._ " In an instant, the entire area that lay behind the Grimm shattered into darkness once more, buildings and foliage simply ceasing to exist as the Grimm called its power forward. " _I can collapse this haven of yours in an instant. What makes you think that you stand a chance against me?_ "

"Because," Frost began as he felt his body surge with power, his arms and legs aglow with the light of his Semblance. "I'm not holding back this time. This is the end for one of us, I can promise you that."

" _So be it. But I hope for your sake your friends have a high pain tolerance. Their deaths…will not be merciful._ "

"Like hell you'll get to them!" Frost roared as he kicked off from the ground and rocketed towards the Grimm at the same moment it pounced, the two colliding with each other in a flurry of limbs.

Blows were evenly met as one of them would swing out with a fist only for it to be deflected by a sudden snap of the arm by the other. A leg would swing out only to be deflected by a slap of the hand or a twist of the knee. The two seemed evenly matched for a time before both of them kicked back from the other and landed back in their relative starting positions.

" _I guess your little stunt with holding back your energy affected me more than I would like to admit. I would have killed you by now were I at full strength, but I suppose that means I'll have to burn some of my reserve essence to end this._ " The Grimm stated before the darkness behind him seemed to surge before flowing into him, his body silhouetted in a sort of shroud as the shadows passed over him for an instant. As the shadows passed, Frost's eyes widened as he bore witness to a portion of the Grimm's true form. Before him stood a being that still looked somewhat like himself, but the apparent Grimm traits were impossible to miss. The tail that seemed to flow cleanly from its back as well as the piercing eyes that seemed to stare right into him. But nothing was more noticeable than the fangs that lined its mouth as it hissed at him. He now knew what kind of Grimm had been inside of him all this time.

A King Taijitu.

" _I remember…when I first felt my presence in your body._ " The serpent hissed as it smirked evilly at him. " _I recall sifting through your memories to see what I could use as a foothold to keep myself from burning under your Semblance as it tried to flush me out. Imagine my surprise when I find a day where you had to fight numerous Grimm on your own and the one Grimm you couldn't defeat…was my own species. I nearly thought that precise moment would be enough to hide inside of, but then your power kept coming. It wasn't until I found a passage that seemed almost ignored, with memories lying about and unattended. And then I found the pain and sorrow from losing your parents and your home. I knew from that moment that no matter how hard your power tried to erase me, I would always have a source to feed on that would never go away. Why do you think you would occasionally snap, or lash out at someone more than was necessary?_ "

"…It was you." Frost stated with shock etched across his face. "Everytime."

" _To an extent._ " The creature shrugged its shoulders casually. " _Most of the frustration and anger was still you, but I had to test how much influence I held in those key instances. And I knew each time that it wasn't enough yet to fully come out of hiding. But then you overtaxed yourself that night back in Vale, and the path was open for me to implant more of myself across your mind. Fragments that would fester and grow as your Semblance attempted to spread itself thin trying to get all of it at once. I was even able to corrupt a portion of it and make it my own,_ " the Grimm paused as a crackle of electricity flickered across its hand before fading away, " _even more strongly infecting your very being with my existence. With all of that revealed and all of that to think about, how could you think you stand a chance against me any longer?_ "

"…This is still MY body." Frost snapped as he raised a hand out in front of him as though reaching for something. "You may have had time to make space for yourself, but I'm still the one with the final say as to what happens here. Your just an unwanted guest." As he spoke, the light lining his arms seemed to coalesce into unique shapes, his eyes glaring daggers at the beast standing before him. "And it's about time I finished kicking you out." The moment he finished speaking, the light silhouettes shattered, revealing a set of weaponry he had long since discarded.

The sword and bracer he had held back when everything has first began to occur.

" _Can't defeat me on your own, so you resort to using old relics that proved ineffective in the past? You only prove that you don't learn from your mistakes._ " The Grimm chuckled as it leapt towards him, its tail lashing out towards Frost's body with flickers of electricity lining its surface. As it approached, Frost released a burst of energy through the bracer, a thick cloud of mist rapidly forming to fill the vicinity.

" _I can still sense you, you know._ " The snake hissed out as it turned around inside of the fog. " _Your anger, your frustration. It's far too predictable to see where you're coming from. Just save yourself the trouble and surrender rather than wasting both of our time._ "

"Not a chance." Frost's voice echoed from beyond he creatures vision.

" _Fine, then I'll just prove to you how fruitless your plan is._ "

The creature lashed out with its tail in the direction it felt Frost's presence…only to be met with air and mist as it struck nothing. The creature snarled in frustration as it ashed out again in a completely different direction, missing once more as its limb crashed through the wall of a building, few pieces of mortar and wood bouncing off of its torso as chunks were scattered by the impact. This went on a few times more before the creature screeched its displeasure into the air.

" _WHAT IS HAPPENING?!_ "

The air was suddenly filled with a roar of pain as the end of the creatures tail was cleanly severed off from the slash of a sword that broke through the fog, it's body leaping away to safety from the direction the attack had come from.

"My mind, remember?" Frost stated plainly as he tapped the side of his head with his armored hand. "Just because you can sense the negative emotions inside me doesn't mean they'll be as easy to read when your constantly surrounded by them. It's a little different being inside someone's head rather than going after an actual person, I imagine." Frost's grin fell into a look of disgust as the runes lining his bracer shone with an intense light.

"Now do me a favour and get the fuck out of my life."

The entire area shook as a barrage of ice mixed with crackling electricity lanced out from Frost's arm, the bracer shattering into motes of light as it deteriorated atop Frost's arm. The energy continued to surge forwards as Frost slowly walked towards the creature, it's body writhing in agony as it tried to back away from the onslaught, only to be stopped as it bumped roughly into an oddly shaped surface. Amidst its pain, the creature looked back to stare at the shape of Frost's childhood home, its body seething with pain as it felt its own essence being torn apart.

" _You think you've won?! You think this is truly the end of me?!_ " The creature struggled to stand as it used the door of the house as a support. " _I am a part of you now! Nothing you do will ever truly get rid of me!_ "

"I know." Frost said with a calm voice as he continued to slowly approach the beast. With one fluid movement, the sword he held in his other hand lanced out and pierced the monster's abdomen, pinning it cleanly to the door of his old home as he finally stopped pushing his power into the monster that stood before him.

"But now that I know where you've been hiding, this is where you'll stay. You won't gain anymore hold over me. We're done."

" _You'll slip! You won't be able to hold me back forever! This pathetic stopper won't last forever!_ " The creature's hands gripped tightly onto the sword that lay impaled inside of it, struggling to remove it's bonds.

"You're probably right. But neither of us is going to have to worry about that much longer." Frost turned and began to walk off even as the roars of pain and rage filled the air behind him, his entire surroundings slowly fading as he felt his consciousness start to return.

"I just have to take care of one last thing. Then this will all be over."

* * *

Frost's body jolted upright as his eyes blinked open. Both Neo and Emerald jerked back in surprise as they had approached his body once it had appeared to calm down and stop giving off energy. Without even realizing it, both of them reached for their weapons as they pointed them at Frost's sitting form.

"…Well this is awkward." Frost commented after the three of them stared at each other for a few moments. "Is something on my face?"

"…Frost?" Neo asked after a few seconds pause, her weapon lowering a fraction. "Is it really you?"

"Umm…I think so? Let me try something real quick." Frost quickly got to his feet before walking over to a nearby wall and staring at it for a moment. In the next second both girls jumped in surprise as the boy slammed his head into the wall with a bang. He then leaned back with a pained look as he placed both hands on the sides of his skull to stop the ringing in his ears. "Yep, that hurt. I'm back, it's official." A grunt of air rushed out of him as he felt his abdomen suddenly engulfed in a tight hug from Neo, her weapon discarded on the floor back where Emerald stood with a still surprised look.

"…You big idiot…" Neo grumbled into his chest as she continued to hold tight, one of Frost's hand gently coming to rest on her head as he rubbed her hair gently.

"I'm sorry for what I put you through. But we can't just stop and get reacquainted just yet. We still have to shut this place down." A gentle smile filled Frost's face as he felt Neo slowly back out of the one-sided hug.

"What about the others, though?" Emerald asked as she walked over, her weapons already sheathed as she passed Neo her parasol.

"They'll be fine." Frost replied. "This place may have a bunch of Grimm in it, but they're split up and scattered throughout to keep them from being too strong a force individually. There's still a bunch of them that were let out, but the most they'll prove is a slog for the others to wade through rather than anything of actual risk." Frost paused for a moment as he seemed t space out for a second. "...man being a passenger inside my own head let me get a lot of info about this place I wouldn't have otherwise."

"Well in that case," Neo began as she waited patiently next to Emerald. "Where to now?"

Frost's expression hardened as he spoke his next words. "The main reactor powering this whole place. We're going to blow it up."

* * *

 **Sorry, the weekend slipped past me due to trying to make some progress on some recent content added to some games I play. Kept forgetting to post this update despite my usual approach. Regardless, here's the next snippet in the story. Obviously they're not out of the woods yet, but they ARE allowed their small victories here and there.**


	48. Chapter 48

"You expect the three of us to somehow reach one of the most likely places to be heavily guarded AND blow it up without managing to get killed in the process?" Emerald asked with an incredulous look as she crossed her arms over her chest. The neutral look given to her and Neo by Frost was hardly reassuring. "Alright then, let's say we ACTUALLY make it then. How are we supposed to let the others know about what's happening so that they don't wind up caught in the blast or trapped inside this place?"

"That's the tricky part. While I deal with the reactor with my Semblance, the two of you will run back to the others and teleport out while I make my own way out after I've overloaded the core." Frost said with a straight look. The other two blanched at his suggestion the moment he spoke it.

"Absolutely not!" Neo exclaimed with a stomp born out of exasperation. "We just got you back! We are not leaving you here to die doing something reckless!"

"Neo, we don't have another option." Frost stated matter-of-factly. "They likely had some sort of hierarchy in running this place, and only the more high-ranking scientists would have had full access to the system. I wouldn't be surprised if the only person to actually have the authority to self-destruct the place would be the leader himself. And there's not a chance in hell he would put all of this work to waste. Not with how close he was to getting what he wanted."

"How would you know what he wanted?" Emerald asked with a frown. "I doubt he was exactly the most confiding in a prisoner."

"He would if he thought he'd already won. He saw me as the perfection to his master plan – combining the essence of a Grimm with another living being without any sort of setbacks. While keeping the Grimm dormant in a person was easy enough, it was what happened after they were activated that was usually the problem. Most test subjects died within moments of the transformation, or were left so horribly disfigured that they were effectively discarded as waste. I saw some of those examples when the Grimm inside me was trying to find you guys. It wasn't pretty."

"We know." Frost turned to Neo with a surprised look as she continued. "When we were trying to find out where this place was, we went back to that village that we had helped back in Atlas. It turns out that the doctor that worked there was actually a double agent for the guy running this place. She had infected a good portion of the townsfolk and forced them to transform right in front of us. Then she transformed into some gigantic hybrid of those icy Beowolves we fought the first time."

Frost had to reign himself in for a moment with a deep, somewhat calming breath as he struggled to hold back the anger he felt welling up at hearing that the "innocent" woman they had met was actually another member of the disgusting group that had infected himself and Neo. He could sense the Grimm inside threatening to lunge out as it lapped at his negative emotions, but he couldn't let the others see that he wasn't actually at 100%. If he showed any signs of relapsing, his entire plan would likely fall apart.

"Well, she's dead. Obviously, otherwise you all wouldn't be here right now. Our concern is still the reactor powering this place."

"Okay, great. We have a suicidal plan, and all that's stopping us is whatever they have between here and the most important part of the building. What could go wrong?" Emerald groaned.

"Oh, plenty of things COULD go wrong," Frost started as he motioned for the other two to follow after him. "But I know the shortest route. Considering where they had me setup, I had a birds eye view of the core. It's in the central lab. And that's where we're going next. But there's one little snag that might make things a little tricky…"

"And what's that?" Neo asked with a concerned look.

"You two need to chase me like I'm running away from you. Otherwise they'll know something is up when they see the three of us on the cameras while we make our way." Frost gave the two an apologetic look as he started to sprint off, the other two fast on his heels as they proceeded to begin their "chase".

* * *

"Blast it! Where did that idiot boy get to?!" Asrani shouted to no one in particular as scientists scrambled back and forth all around him. "And where are we with those other Huntsmen and students roaming the corridors?!"

"Sir, the larger group is presently distracted by the occasional Grimm forces that are being released from their containment." One of the scientists nearby fumbled over their console as they flipped a pair of switches. "As planned, they're being led to one of the far ends of the facility thanks to the path we are forming with the closed-off passages. Unfortunately, in the battle between the boy and the two young girls, the camera feeds were short-circuited due to his Semblance. We don't currently have a visual on their whereabouts or what his present status happens to be."

"Curse the luck that gives us what we've finally been searching for only to lose track of it once again." Asrani fumed to himself as he leaned over his central console in the large laboratory. "I have put TOO MUCH work into this project to see it fail now! Someone give me a status report on our finalization of the serum, NOW!"

"Sir," another scientist shouted from a nearby machine that was currently humming away. "The formula is nearly complete! Within a few moments, we will finally have the solution we've been searching for all these years!"

"Excellent! Make sure to seal the samples in one of the containment vessels for transport once it is finished!" Asrani shouted back. "Even if it's not enough for as widespread a transformation as we'd initially intended, we can use one of the other decoy bases to replicate more from the base sample. Make sure to not drop ANY OF IT or I will personally-"

"Dr. Asrani, we have an update on the boy! He is currently retreating from his fight, with the two girls following closely behind him. They appear to be firing on his position as they proceed through the facility towards…" The first scientist paused as their eyes tracked the path of the cameras they were visible through before their face noticeably paled. "Here."

"WHAT?!" Asrani whirled to move over to the console overlooking the security footage. His hand swung out to smack the scientist on the head with a vicious clap. "Then barricade the door you idiot! We can't have them inside this room where they could potentially ruin everything! Reroute them, now!"

The scientist's hands were furiously clicking away at the keyboard as sweat beaded over their forehead. "Sir, I'm trying, but none of the doors on their route are responding to my commands!"

"What do you mean they're not responding?!" A vein could be seen visibly bulging from the man's forehead.

"I'm attempting to close the passages behind the boy, effectively separating him from his assailants, but nothing is working! They won't move!"

"Let me see that, you fool." Asrani shoved his way into the seat overlooking the controls as his eyes scanned after the three-person group rapidly approaching their position. Occasionally, a brief flicker of light could be seen on screen as the boy fired energy bursts back towards his pursuers. Only…they seemed to be missing every single time. Scientifically speaking, it was reasonable to assume that the occasional blast would miss as nothing was 100% accurate. But to have a 0% accuracy was…suspicious. The doctor's eyes widened as he clued into what was going on moments later. "You bumbling moron! The doors aren't working because he's disabling them after he passes! He's bringing them here on purpose!"

"But…why would he do that? It doesn't make sense for something part Grimm to toy with their targets like this!"

"No, it doesn't. Because he's not currently under the control of his Grimm. You pathetic FOOLS weren't able to dose him enough to fully complete the procedure!"

"But sir, we applied precisely as much of the final product as you instructed! It should have worked!" A scientist from off towards the finalizing serum shouted over the chaos. Everyone fell silent as all eyes fell on either the scientist that spoke or Dr. Asrani himself.

"…Are you implying that my calculations were off?" Asrani said in a dangerous tone as he crossed his hands calmly behind his back, his posture rigid as a board as he turned to face the scientist that had spoken last.

"Not at all sir, but there IS the possibility that we missed something in the testing phase that-" The words were sharply cut-off as a gunshot rang out, leaving the speaking the scientist with a new opening in their skull before their form collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Asrani calmly replaced his gun within its holster inside of his lab coat without blinking an eye, a thin smoke trail still wafting up from the barrel for a few moments. "Everyone, back to work. We will have some visitors here very soon and we need to have as many things prepared as possible. Where are we with the serum?"

"It's just finished the first batch, sir! We can have it sealed up and sent out within moments!"

"Good. But leave one sample out. I need to have something as a gift for our visitors when they arrive. The rest of you, gather what you can and head out through the emergency shaft. I will send you the coordinates of our next destination once I have handled our intruders."

"Sir, we haven't finished testing your DNA to see if it is compatible with the new formula! It's only just been finished!"

"That hardly concerns me. I have been working towards this for years. Fate demands that I see this through as the very thing I have been seeking to perfect. Now leave, all of you. Any stragglers will not be tolerated in the oncoming storm."

With that, all of the other scientists clambered over each other once again as they put together as many things possible before retreating out of a secondary corridor. One scientist stayed a moment longer to carefully place one of the samples on the table next to Asrani before giving a silent nod and sprinting off after the others.

Asrani sighed deeply to himself before his hand reached for the black concoction within the canister. His eyes traced over its bubbling mixture for a few moments before he carefully released the lid on it, an ominous hissing noise releasing as the container opened. He raised the canister to the air with a determined look in his eyes.

"For the sake of our future, I become a new man."

* * *

Frost and the others busted into the room a few minutes later, their bodies taut and prepared for combat the moment they arrived. What they weren't expecting to find was an empty lab devoid of people. Or at least, what they thought was devoid until they heard a raspy cough echoing from somewhere off to the side of the large area. All three of them cautiously walked over to where the noise was coming form in case they needed to move back in a hurry.

As it turned out, they were worried for nothing as they came upon the sickly face of Dr. Asrani, his body curled up and shivering against one of the consoles littering the room. Sweat was beaded on his forehead and soaked into the collar of his coat as labored breaths echoed from his throat.

"I see…that you've final made it…" The man rasped out in a hoarse voice. "Unfortunately for you…this is not…the victory you were hoping for…"

"You absolute moron." Frost stated with disgust littering his tone. "You took it, didn't you?"

"I had to, boy…for what purpose does being human serve…when everything is destined to fall to the Grimm regardless?" The man coughed harshly for a few moments before he regained his breath. "Better to stay alive…and become superior…than stay as we were and fail in the end…"

"No one ever gave up fighting the Grimm except for you and the other idiots that worked with you, old man." Frost stated as he looked down at the vulnerable man.

"I was…mistaken…"

"Yeah, you were."

"Not for what you think…you daft child…" The man took a deep, shuddering breath as his eyes began to glaze over. "I was mistaken…to think that I would see…the crowning achievement of my work come to fruition…It seems that I was always…doomed to die without seeing the fruits of my labour…to see our civilization progress into a new age…"

"That age will never come. And once this place is gone…No one will make this mistake again. Not after all of the damage it has already caused."

"That may be what you believe…boy…but someone will always be willing to make…the ugly choices if it means our survival…" The man's voice grew weaker as his body slumped further into the console. "Pray that you don't remain so naïve in the future…"

Frost silently looked at the man for a few moments before walking over to the console that showed all of the security footage around the facility. His eyes glanced over the large group of scientists heading down one of the passages, but they were of no consequence as he continued to look across the screens until he found what he was looking for. Once he saw it, his hands flew over to the button that engaged the intercom within the passage he wanted.

"Everyone, this place is going to go up in a little bit. Stay where you are so that Neo and Emerald can come to you and teleport you all out of here."

Frost turned with a neutral expression as he marched towards the large set of controls that kept the core locked down. A quick glance across the console gave nothing as he groaned before striding over to the door that entered into the chamber for maintenance purposes. One quick pulse of his Semblance disengaged the lock as he calmly pulled open the door a bit before turning back to face Neo and Emerald within the doorframe.

"Alright, now that they're aware to stop moving, you should be able to teleport to them since the camera offers you a view of the passage, Neo. Use your Semblance to get to them and then get them out of here."

Neo nodded as she started to turn towards the footage only to stop midway as she turned back to him. "I will but you make sure once you've set that thing to blow that you get back into this room for me to pull you out as well."

"…Sorry Neo, but that's not going to happen."

And with that, Frost closed the door to the reactor behind him even as Neo and Emerald both shouted out in protest.

* * *

 **Almost there, which does make me somewhat sad. Endings really are a blessing and a curse, aren't they?**


	49. Chapter 49

Frost winced as he heard the girls' yells as the door slammed shut behind him. His fists clenched tightly as he heard banging on the metal frame. His chest ached as he heard one set of yelling turn into whimpers. But he didn't turn around, because he knew that if he did…he wouldn't be able to finish what he needed to do.

"Cobalt…why?" Neo's voice came from the opposite side of the door.

"…Because I lied to the two of you." His throat felt thick for a moment before he powered on, unwilling to falter now to close to the end. "The Grimm inside me is still there. Clawing away as it tries to get control back from me before I do something that puts it at risk. It's like needles poking into my brain every few seconds as it pushes, harder and more desperate each time. And it's going to win, soon. There's nothing short of a miracle that will stop that, and we're not in a position for that to be a thing right now. Besides…I'm too far gone already."

"You can't know that!" Emerald shouted back. "Ironwood and Weiss' sister took all of the transformed people from the village to Atlas to try and cure them! They could do the same for you!"

"And what am I supposed to do over the time it takes to fly there from the middle of Vale? Fasten myself into a harness while someone somehow drugs me enough to prevent my Semblance from being used to crash the airship? It's not worth the risk and the two of you know it. When I saw Asrani lying on the ground, the only thing that stopped me from reaching down and snapping his neck was that I knew he was going to die anyways. And none of that was the Grimm's doing."

"Stop making it sound like you're doing us a favour, you asshole!" Emerald snapped back as the sound of a fist slamming into the door once again echoed from behind him. "…I used to hate the two of you. I only saw you as pawns of Torchwick that would eventually get in the way. Then I saw you refuse Cinder's demands and manage to escape. For a brief moment, I was tempted to follow after you." Everything was quiet for a few moments before Frost heard Emerald continue.

"When Cinder first picked me up off the streets, I was nothing but a thief. I thought that I would finally be able to live a better life if I worked with her like she offered. It wasn't until later on that I realized I was just a tool to her. Someone she saw as the means to an ends to help steal power that wasn't hers. But by the time I realized I had made a mistake, she was already leading an assault on one of the world's largest cities, killing countless people like it meant nothing at all. And then I saw the two of you on that rooftop. I saw how happy the two of you were for a moment, and I wished that I could have that kind of freedom. It was when Mercury came after the two of you under Cinder's orders to get rid of any loose ends that I knew if I really wanted a chance at redemption, I had to step in. So I got in his way and threw him into a dumpster while the two of you got away. I thought that was it - I had helped the two of you escape, and I had officially shown myself as a traitor to Cinder. I honestly thought that at any moment I would get shot in the back by one of her arrows for what I had done. But nothing happened. I just stood there for a bit, realizing that I was free. Until Mercury got back to her, Cinder would never now I had turned on her."

"So I hid. I found one of the most stable buildings and hid until the fighting stopped and things started to calm down. It wasn't until a few days later after scavenging from abandoned grocery stores and fighting off the occasional Grimm while avoiding the larger packs that I noticed the two of you passing through the ruins. I thought it was some kind of fluke. But no, the two of you were trying to find leads as to where Cinder was going so that you could try to stop her. I should have taken that as a sign to turn and go the other way considering who you were trying to find, but I never could. I came up to the two of you and offered to help, and instead of rejecting me outright like others would have for what I had taken part in, you accepted it. You brought me with you to Atlas where we saved a village full of people from the Grimm, we broke the Schnee princess out of her own home, we fought hordes of Grimm in Menagerie, and all of that brought us here. To stopping some lunatic that thought that putting a Grimm inside someone would help us survive. I never would have been able to do most of those things if I hadn't had the courage to fight back because of the two of you."

"…Most of those things, huh?" Frost could swear he could hear Emerald's smirk from the other side of the door. "That confident that you could break into one of the most important places in Vale on your own?"

"It'd take some work, but I could see it. They sure wouldn't."

"Semblance joke, funny." Frost snarked back as he closed his eyes to take a deep, calming breath. "Take after each other, you got it? I know what this seems like, but it's not completely because of that that I'm about to do this. This place can't be allowed to remain. No one can find this research and recreate it. And right now, blowing the core is the fastest way to bring the whole place down in one go. It makes the most sense that someone that has the least likely chance of coming out of this alright is the one to do it. Out of our whole group it would've likely been Nora, Yang, or I that could take this place out with our Semblances. But the two of them don't have a Grimm parasite living in their head waiting to lash out and hurt someone."

"Now go find the others and get them out of here."

Frost's only way of knowing that they had left was the telltale sound of Neo's teleportation going off a few moments later before he calmly started walking towards the main reactor within the chamber.

* * *

Far across the facility, Neo and Emerald flashed into the presence of the others. Readied weapons turned to face the two for a moment before everyone calmed down and relaxed. Ruby stepped forward with a worried look when she saw the conflicted expressions on the two girls' faces.

"What's Frost doing back there? What did he mean by this place going up?"

Neo and Emerald gave each a look before they turned back for Emerald to address the group.

"He's going to overload the power for this place and bring it all down in the resulting explosion. But to do it he locked himself in the room that houses the reactor so that we couldn't stop him. So we're here to get all of you out before it's too late."

"How, though? There's over ten of us here and I highly doubt that Neo's Semblance could move that many people at once."

"We're going to have to do it in shifts. Neo will take a few at a time out to the entrance where everyone will then back up into the forest to avoid anything that might come flying out when the place collapses. We don't know how much time we have exactly, so brace yourselves for a bit of a rush."

* * *

Frost stared at the behemoth that was the main reactor for a few moments as he figured out where it would be best for him to grab on and start flooding it with his Semblance. He knew that regardless of where it was, he was going to be experiencing pain like he had never felt before as he would acting as a conductor to an already powerful electrical system. A few times in the past he had used his Semblance to power something small like a radio or a remote, and those had given him a strange tingly feeling as he had acted as a bridge to power said devices. This wasn't even something that could be measured on a scale. He knew that flooding it with his Semblance WOULD overload the system to the point of malfunction, but he wasn't sure how long he would be able to remain conscious for it.

As he laid eyes on what looked like a large set of wires feeding into the machine, he started walking towards them only to feel a sharp stabbing pain much worse than what he had described to the others echo through his skull.

" _Did you really think that I would let you do this?! Did you honestly believe that I would let you come this far and finish what has been started?!_ " The voice of the Grimm seemed almost taunting as Frost felt his limbs tense up as he collapsed to his knees even as he struggled to pull himself towards the wiring amidst the pain. " _What better way would there be to finish you than to let you be so close to your goal only to despair as I erase what remains of your existence and feed on the buffet of negativity such a thing would cause?_ "

"You…won't…win…" Frost grunted out as he used the console for a set of controls to pull himself a little closer to the wiring. "I'm…ending…this…"

" _Believe what you want. But in the end, you will fail and I will walk out of this place to kill all of your friends and allies. From there I will find the scientists that escaped and act as their guard while they finish the good doctor's work. They're mistake in the past was trusting mercenaries and ordinary people to defend something so important. With me there, nothing will come to slow their progress._ "

"Well…" Frost started as smirked a bit to himself despite the pain. "Guess…I'm going to…have to disappoint…" His hand reached out as it neared the wiring he had been struggling to reach. "The problem with…living in my head…is that I read…a LOT of comics…and stories with heroes…and the one thing…that each of those villains…has in common…"

"Is their tendency to monologue…when they think they've won." As he finished, his hand grasped tightly onto the wiring before he let his Semblance out in full-force. As his body surged with pain and electricity, he was unsure how much of the screaming he could hear was his own or the beast inside of him.

* * *

Neo glanced up towards the rook of the passage as the lights began to flicker and pop at random. Due to how everyone how organized themselves, all that remained were Emerald, Ruby, and Weiss. The four of them each gathered together quickly before Neo spared Emerald a glance before activating her Semblance once again.

As they reunited with the rest of the group, Neo stepped away briefly as she and Emerald made eye contact once more. All that was shared between the two after that was a brief nod before Neo disappeared once more to the surprised shouts of everyone else. All eyes turned to Emerald as Ruby shouted towards the green-haired girl.

"What is she doing?!"

Emerald smirked as she spared a look back towards the entrance of the building as they all moved quickly away.

"Not giving up."

* * *

Frost could feel his senses fading as the pain began to dull. He could see with his rapidly darkening vision that his grip was still tight on the wiring as his Semblance continued to run through it. He had stopped hearing the protests of the Grimm moments ago, much to his peace of mind even thought everything still hurt like hell. But it was over. He would finally be free of the Grimm, and no one else would hopefully have to worry about something like this ever happening again.

His peaceful thoughts came to a crashing halt as he thought he heard a familiar sound echo from a far corner of the room. If that was what he thought it was…

No…no it couldn't be.

Frost felt panic enter his entire being as he was able to just barely glimpse one of Neo's boots come sprinting around the corner of the one of the countess electrical systems. He knew that there were likely stray bolts of electricity careening off of the main system from glimpses he had gotten when the power had first started surging, so why was she here when she would just likely wind up getting killed as well.

"Neo…no…"

Her stern lecturing tone entered his ears as he felt her place one hand gently on his back, though he could feel her shake rather roughly when she refused to let go despite the painful shock she had likely just transferred to herself off of him.

"I'm not letting it end this way. Not in a million years."

"But…core…explode…" Words were difficult to say as his body slowly shut down, his consciousness finally fading entirely as all sounds began to sound echoed and distant. "Won't...make it...with me..."

"I don't care. It's about time I saved you for once."

And then everything turned white.

* * *

 **Yup, I know. Cliffhangers suck and all that. What I will say is that what's left is our epilogue and final thoughts. Which is likely to be out sometime in the next few days as I'd rather get that out of the way shortly after posting this rather than waiting another two weeks. So I'll save any more words for then.**


	50. Epiogue

Frost's entire being felt sore as his eyes slowly blinked open. Due to it hurting so much to exist he chose to not move as much as physically possible before finding out where he currently was. As his eyes gradually scanned the room he realized, much to his initial annoyance, that he had once again landed himself in a hospital bed. And while this was vexing at first, it did mean one pleasant thing.

He was still alive.

The feeling of something shifting forced his vision to turn now to his side, where his eyes widened at the sight of Neo practically curled into him. It was only now that he noticed one of her hands holding tightly on to his, as though it was her way of keeping him anchored to the spot until she was awake. Not that he would be going anywhere anytime soon, however. He had too many questions to be in a hurry to leave.

The sound of a door opening filled his ears, his head quickly spinning once more to see who was currently entering the room. That proved a mistake as a light groan escaped his throat while his face scrunched up for a few moments, the pain of moving too quickly causing a brief but painful headache to pass through his skull. As the pain subsided, his eyes reopened to their normal view as he spotted Emerald standing in the doorway with both hands firmly planted over her mouth and her eyes wide. Not one to pass on the opportunity, Frost did what he did best.

"Good call. Wouldn't want any bugs to get in when your mouth is wide open." It didn't come out as gracefully as he had hoped, his voice sounding like a mix between gravel and sandpaper. There was no way he was passing on the opportunity, however.

Emerald frowned as her hands fell away, though it was conflicted with the light smile her face also held as she continued to stand in the doorway. "I was trying to stop myself from making noise and waking Neo, you ass. This is the first time she's managed to sleep since we brought you here."

Frost's eyes turned to Neo with a look of concern before he turned back to Emerald with the first questions on his mind. "Speaking of which, where are we and how long have I been out?"

"A hospital in Atlas for the first; the better part of two days for the second." Was her curt response. "It took us the better part of a day flying at faster speeds to reach Atlas as soon as possible once Neo reappeared with you half-dead. The blond guy used his Semblance to try and heal you a bit by transferring some Aura, but you were still in pretty bad shape despite that. The doctors said you were lucky to still be alive."

Frost nodded, simply to acknowledge her response, before he took a deep breath prior to his next question. "And the Grimm?"

Emerald caught on immediately, no hesitation keeping her held back for even a second. "As far as they can tell…" Frost waited with baited breath. "Gone."

The world suddenly felt thousands of times lighter as Frost processed the words that Emerald spoke. Could it ACTUALLY be true? Was he finally free of the thing that had threatened to turn his entire world upside-down and caused him nothing but problems for years prior to their forced living arrangements?

The sudden shifting of Neo at his side once again caused his head to swivel to her position, though a bit slower this time to avoid a headache as much as possible.

"Is that you, Em?" Neo groggily asked as her eyes blinked open slowly. "Back with breakfast, already?" A light yawn escaped her throat as she stretched her limbs carefully.

"God, you're adorable."

All sets of eyes other than Frost snapped to his face as he blinked for a few seconds, only now realizing what had just come out of his mouth.

"Oh fuck, did I just say that out loud?"

"Cobalt!" His body suddenly felt new pain as Neo practically leapt at him, her arms tightly encircling his neck as she held onto him with a strength he didn't know she possessed. After holding that pose for a few moments, she leaned back to sharply flick his forehead with a stern look on her face. "I swear, the next time you try and save the day like that I'll make sure you aren't able to escape my sight for even a second."

Due to their close proximity, Frost leaned forward slightly to give Neo a peck on the lips before leaning back with a smirk at Neo's now flustered expression. "Is that a promise? Because I don't think I could leave your side again, anyways."

"Oh god." Emerald's voice caused both of their heads to twirl in her direction. "I think I might be lactose-intolerant because that was WAAAAY too cheesy."

"Tough shit." Frost retorted from his current placement. "I had to thank her for saving my life SOMEHOW. Plus it was way too easy."

"Whatever." Emerald's usual snarky response made Frost's smile grow just a little bit more as he realized just how peaceful things were at that moment in time. A quick nudge of his shoulder drew his attention back to Neo as she gave him a questioning look.

"Was that just you trying to be funny, or was that serious? For once I couldn't tell."

Frost just stared at Neo for a moment before his face contorted with a light chuckle. "Completely serious. After everything that's happened I don't think I want to imagine what things would be like without you always there to back me up."

Neo's face could have lit up the entire room on its own due to how much it seemed to glow in that moment before she leaned in to give Frost a kiss of her own. The two stayed like that for a few seconds before the sound of someone clearing their throat filled the air.

"Still here, you two. Need me to put up a sign or something so that someone doesn't walk in and get scarred for life?"

"As tempting as that sounds," Frost said with a joking tone to which Neo gave him a swat on the shoulder with a smile of her own. "I am way too sore to do anything except lie here for the time being. Aura can only work so fast after all."

"Suit yourself. I'll go let the others know that you're doing alright and to give you some peace for a bit to catch some sleep. It's not like you're going anywhere anytime soon." Emerald moved to step out into the hall once again, her hand resting on the doorknob to pull it shut behind her. A brief pause as the door was nearly shut told the other two that she wasn't quite done as her head poked back into the room.

"For the record," she paused for a moment as she searched for the right words. "It's good to have you back. For real this time."

Frost nodded to the green-haired girl. "Thanks Em."

* * *

A few days later, Frost was finally allowed to leave following a few final checkups and a long-winded conversation with the adults. As it turned out, the Grimm that had once been inside him had either been entirely erased from the sheer amount of power he had flooded his body with when he grabbed the power coils, or was so drastically weakened that it was unnoticeable. The odds were high that Frost's initial resilience to the foreign presence would simply force the being out entirely if anything remained, but they would need to make sure to check in every once in a while to make sure it wasn't starting to reemerge.

When he finally saw the others after recovering for a bit, he had practically been glomped to death by Ruby when she dove at him for a hug. The only things that had protected him were a quick snap of the wrist from Yang to hold her sister back, and a possessive look from Neo to all other persons that made some of them slightly uneasy – Frost included after a while – and avoided doing a similar thing following the reaction to Ruby's welcome. Following that apologies were shared, friendships were reaffirmed, and everyone walked away feeling lighter and happier than they had in a while.

As it also turned out, the citizens of the village that had been converted by the Grimm hidden in their bodies had been able to eventually recover as well, though it took much longer with how progressed it had gotten. Frost's intervention and progressive application of his Semblance, much like he had done with Neo the night Beacon had fallen, helped greatly in getting them all back on the path to recovery even if they might be slightly disfigured in some ore extreme cases.

Sure, Salem and Cinder were both still out there somewhere. But the plot to infect the populace with Grimm had been foiled ad everyone was safe for the time being. Even if it was only a temporary peace. It was still just that. Because even if it was a brief one, they all had…

A happy ending.

* * *

 **Well...that's it. It may be a bit of a cliche ending, but I've always found myself to be a bit of a sucker for those. I could have had it be a bit more tragic or a bit more sad, but the amount of stuff that had happened earlier on made me feel like giving them some semblance of peace was practically necessary.**

 **What I will also say is this - thank you.**

 **I've been working on this story and it's predecessor for nearly three full years. The fact that between the two of them I've managed over 75 chapters (some definitely better than others) and nearly 250k words is just incredible. The reviews and support I've received have been nothing short of heartwarming and amazing, as I initially started this as just a passion project that needed to be made. Even to those silent viewers that simply came in every once in a while to read the newest post or catch up if they joined later on mean the world to me. Ever view, every favorite, every follow meant that I was doing something right.**

 **But now I have to bring the sad news that this is also the end of this tale. At least for the foreseeable future. Maybe one day a new idea will pop into my head and I'll come back to this world to spin another tale. But until then, just know that this was also possible because of all of you. While writing for me is fun, having an audience to write for is just that much better.**

 **For those that don't already know, I AM still working on my My Hero Academia story if you wanted to take a look over there for something else to read. But at that, I will leave you all with a fond farewell and a sincere thank you.**


End file.
